S. RAGHUNATHA PRABHU, Alappuzha

Interest on bank deposits is the only additionalincome that ordinary citizens have, who are not veryconversant with complex investment opportunities. TheFinance Minister should abolish income-tax on interestincome which will be a relief to bank depositors, convenience to banks ( avoiding TDS ) and would also attract more deposit in Public Sector Banks. The FM may re-introduce interest tax to compensate for the revenue loss arising from exempting deposit interest from income-tax.

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While preparing Union Budget, the Finance ministershould bear in mind the following: Tax-payers should be treated as a crop to be cultivatedrather than wild animals to be hunted for their meat. They should notbe considered as goose that lays golden eggs. A man who earns income is doing a service to the nationby saving and investing whereas a man who consumes by his spending is depleting nation's resources.Instead of taxingincome heavily, the FM should tax the spenders by imposing anExpenditure-tax or a luxury-tax. He should not punish income-earners. Budget should not act as dis-incentive for creatingwealth.

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The Finance Minister should give more priorityto Agriculture and farm sectors.All those who eat shouldsupport the farmer ; otherwise, there would be a foodcrisis. The pitiable condition of the agricultural sector is evident grom the fact that the share of agriculture is just 17 % of the GDP, even though 60 % of the population are engaged in the agriculture. The Government should make agriculture moreprofitable; agriculture should attract the educated youthtowards the farm sector. Though subsidy is now a dirtyword, the Finance Minister should allocate more subsidyfor agriculture and reduce the price of agricultural inputslike seeds, fertilizers, pesticides etc., reduce the price oftractors and harvesting machines and also reduce the cropinsurance premium for small farmers from the present 1.8 % to 1 % of the insured sum. The limit of land holdings to treat as a small farmer should be raised from 2 hectares to 5 Hectares. The Finance Minister should also allocate funds for research and innovation in the farm sector.

S. RAGHUNATHA PRABHU