Budget

'96 Budget promises

On the last occasion, I had made over forty specific promises on policies and programmes. I have carefully taken stock of the situation, and Hon'ble members will be pleased to know that I have fulfilled all these promises, save one, to which I shall refer presently. To recall the more important ones, I am happy to state that we have: o Provided an additional sum of Rs 2,466 crore, to the States for seven Basic Minimum Services; o Funded the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF)-II with Rs 2,500 crore; o Expanded the list of industries eligible for autoumatic approval for foreign equity investment; o Set up the Disinvestment Commission and the Tariff Commission; o Introduced the Jeevan Suraksha and the Jan Arogya insurance schemes; and o Launched the Accelerated lrrigation Benefit Programme.

The one commitment that I have been unable to keep is to set up an Expenditure Management and Reforms Commission. I failed because I wanted an A team and I was not content with a B team. Key members of the A team are in this House and in the Rajya Sabha and they still elude me. I shall keep trying. Meanwhile, I have not let up on my resolve to keep expenditure within the Budget, and I have achieved a fair measure of success.