Letter from the Editor
Although climatically invigorating with cool winds blowing across the subcontinent, for business and industry leaders and India’s great middle class, the month of February is a season of some anxiety, even trepidation. On February 28 Union finance minister P. Chidambaram will rise up to present yet another carefully considered Union budget. This time for the fiscal year 2007-08 (starting April 1). For decision makers in business and industry as also for those employed in the organised sector, this is a time of anxiety and uncertainty because as per the recommendations of the finance minister, Parliament will impose additional taxes on some segments of the population and provide tax reliefs, subsidies and handouts to others. It’s hardly surprising that budget presentation is a big ticket event. On the day the finance minister will unveil the Union government’s plan to spend more than Rs.600,000 crore it expects to mobilise, for the business of governing the nation. By any yardstick, this is a massive amount and where, when, how well and for what purposes it’s spent will make a huge difference to millions of people across the country. Little wonder that as B-Day approaches, the excitement is building up.
Unfortunately the format in which the Union budget is presented to Parliament and the people does not clearly indicate the income and expenditure — particularly the priorities — of government. Instead of a professional corporate-style income and expenditure statement with a clear productivity/ outcomes picture, the Union budget is an opaque document, difficult for most lay citizens to decipher. In my various avatars as editor of Business India and Businessworld and also in EducationWorld, I have been pressing for a simpler Union budget format which would provide a complete picture, and in particular highlight the expenditure priorities of the Union government. Moreover I have always believed that there is considerable opportunity for within-budget savings and their redeployment into high priority areas.
And given that contemporary India has the world’s youngest population, to my mind there can’t be a higher priority area than education — training and shaping this valuable human resource. Therefore, screwing up courage, I have fulfilled a long cherished ambition to in effect present an alternative budget which gives top priority to developing India’s abundant human capital, for public consideration. To write this in this month’s first-of-its-type, budget-eve cover story, EducationWorld constituted a think tank of economists to test its basic premises and proposals. If not solutions, I hope it provides a framework for a vigorous national debate.
Likewise in our special report feature, we present an account of a new maths learning fever which is sweeping the country. As the traditional but dormant love of maths of Indians is resurrected, it’s possible that ubiquitous maths phobia may soon become history.
Dilip Thakore