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RSS affiliate calls Sitharaman’s Budget 2020 move to open FDI in education ‘not welcome’

While appreciating rural thrust of Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget 2020, Swadeshi Jagran Manch says FDI in education will ‘transfer our domestic resources abroad’.

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New Delhi: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch Saturday criticised Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s move to open foreign direct investment in education even as it welcomed the Union Budget 2020-21 that has come amid “difficult times”.

“We are not in favour of FDI in education. It will try to transfer our domestic resources abroad. We should try to strengthen our own education rather than this. This is not a welcome step,” said Ashwani Mahajan, national co-convenor of the RSS affiliate that deals with economic issues.

Mahajan said the issue will be discussed further and a decision will be made on how to take up the matter with the Narendra Modi government.

In her budget speech Saturday, Sitharaman said that steps will be taken to enable sourcing external commercial borrowings and FDI to ensure a greater inflow of finance to attract talented teachers, innovate and build better labs.


Also read: No big fiscal stimulus in Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget 2020, but govt can still do it later


On rural sector focus

Appreciating the rural thrust of Sitharaman’s budget, Mahajan said the government has tried to create more jobs in the rural sector.

“This is something that we have been saying for quite some time that more job opportunities in the rural sector needs to be created. At the same time, the budget has also tried to strengthen the start-up ecosystem and the cooperative tax benefits will also help the rural sector at large,” he said.

Mahajan also lauded the government efforts in bringing in the rule of origin wherein any product that will be imported to India will have to be certified over its location of production. He said the move will help keep a check on China dumping its goods in India.

The Swadeshi Jagran Manch, a frequent critic of the Modi government, has been pushing back against foreign-owned companies, particularly e-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart.

On disinvestment

Asked about the proposal to bring in state-owned Life Insurance Corporation’s IPO through a public offering, Mahajan said the Manch is not against privatisation but LIC should not be sold to foreign companies.

On Modi government’s move to go ahead with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) disinvestment through an invitation for expression of interest, Mahajan said the government should not go for the strategic route.

However, he added, “Given the fact that it was a very difficult budget as it comes at a time of resource crunch there were not too many expectations but still the government has taken many good decisions.”

The RSS affiliate had earlier launched an agitation against the government’s plans to sell its stake in five public sector undertakings including BPCL, calling it “anti-India”.


Also read: Nirmala Sitharaman’s second Union Budget woos the salaried class — but only just


 

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2 COMMENTS

  1. RSS is the square peg in the round hole. It has an opinion on everything under the sun. Only RSS knows what is good for India.

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