The Hindu Business Line : Prof Yerrum Raju; Gurukul Institute of Management and Vivekananda Institute of Management, Gulbarga

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Prof Yerrum Raju; Gurukul Institute of Management and Vivekananda Institute of Management, Gulbarga

Prof Yerrum Raju addressing management students at BudgetTalk-2009, jointly sponsored by the Gurukul Institute of Management and Vivekananda Institute of Management in Gulbarga on Saturday. It was organised by the Business Line Club.

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Gulbarga, July 12The Union Budget 2009-10 has lost an opportunity to provide a push to economic reforms and also is short on imagination, speakers at the BudgetTalk-2009, organised by the Business Line Club at Sidhartha Law College here felt.

Mr Pranab Mukherjee has made huge allocations for social sector programmes, infrastructure, agriculture, but depends heavily on non-plan funding and borrowings, said Dr Yerram Raju, a veteran banker and Regional Director of the global risk management Institute, PRMIA.

Giving an overview of the budget to students of management and commerce, drawn from various colleges in this north Karnataka city, Dr Raju explained, how the measures could lead to high fiscal deficit, non-productive spending and lacked an accountability mechanism.

However, for the first time a Finance Minister has made provisions to give incentives for repayment of loans by farmers, which he termed as very welcome. About 300 students gathered to listen to the panel of speakers at the event sponsored by the Gurukul Institute of Management and Vivekananda Institute of Management, Gulbarga.

In his presentation, Prof M.L. Sai Kumar, Head of Department (IT) at the Institute of Public Enterprise (IPE), Hyderabad, felt that the budget did not address the issues confronting the IT sector in toto in the current difficult global environment it has landed in. Extension of sops for a year and a few duties relaxed are small mercies, he felt.

Prof Sai Kumar gave a contrast to the students on the impact of some of the budget provisions on products such as computers, LCDs, consumer goods etc terming them the pain or relief depending on the taxation measure.

A noted Chartered Accountant from Gulbarga, Mr Anand Pallod, highlighted the impact of indirect taxes and personal Income Tax measures. He said the IT structure would soon get more transparent with e-filing becoming real with Bengaluru as the Centre for processing.

Mr Pallod said the extension of relief for education loans taken for specific professional courses to all education areas after higher secondary was a welcome measure that would help the student community.

Mr P.V.S. Ravindra Verma, CEO of Formula HR Consulting, focused on some of the key provisions that could help the student community. He pointed out that the allocation for skill development was increased to Rs 900 crore. Similarly, higher education has also got greater funding, which needs to be channelised meaningfully.

The objective of modernisation of all employment exchanges under the public-private-partnership model along with the web portal was also welcome. It would help job seekers to register online. The huge funds for NREGA, infrastructure etc. should generate big employment opportunities. Mr Verma drove home the need for good budgeting, communication skills and realization of dreams engaging them in interactions.

The panel discussion was moderated by Mr M. Somasekhar, Chief of Bureau, Business Line, Hyderabad. Mr P. Ranga Reddy, Regional General Manager, The Hindu, Hyderabad, explained that the objectives of organising BudgetTalk-2009 was to create awareness among students on the budget.

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