Is The Budget Just A Media Event?

Yes, you heard me right. I am really questioning the fact if the budget today has become more of a media event. Almost every news channel or magazine has a special coverage of the budget with their own analysis.

Hours and hours of TV time and print shall be talking about the budget and what it really means for all of us. All this is great, but are budgets really that important to the larger economy? Personally I feel that over time budgets have lost their significance and impact today as compared to several years ago. I am not saying this in a negative way but in a very positive way. What I am trying to say is that market economies are less influenced by things like budgets in the long term.

As a business person or an entrepreneur, you might be hoping for tax deductions, but how much would the actual benefit really be? Most probably it wouldn't matter to your clients if the budget happens tomorrow or a decade later. As somebody working somewhere, you really aren't too concerned if taxes get slightly reduced. What benefits you more in fact are more opportunities in your area of work and your moving up the corporate ladder.

Look at sectors like IT. When I visit the various IT parks set up in South India, I can clearly see how self-contained they are. Their dependence on the government is very little. Today private entrepreneurship doesn't need hand outs from the government, instead what it needs is an environment where it can thrive. I don't think any government really is going to do a lot of damage to the framework.

A few regulatory issues can be improved, taxes can be brought down but that is pretty much it. No matter how good a budget is, it can't improve an economy which is not strong and growing because of its people. India today is growing not because of government intervention, but in fact because of the lack of government intervention. We are growing because of the wonderful people we have. We are growing because of our knowledge and creativity. Unlike China, where the government plays a very important role, here in India it is us- the people who spearhead revolutions in every field.

Banking, IT, medicine, law, media, infrastructure, finance, entertainment all are being taken ahead thanks to private enterprise and because of millions of people like you and me. The Infosys', Reliances, Wipros, Kotaks,Network18s, L&Ts and so many more companies of India were built due to private entrepreneurship and people. We need to encourage more private sector participation in all areas.

A lot more needs to be done, and I am confident we shall do it. All that needs to be done is give more power to common people and I assure you miracles can happen. A recent visit to Terminal 1b of the domestic Mumbai airport, which is operated by GVK, is proof of private enterprise. The Mumbai airport which used to look extremely impoverished two decades ago, is a sparkling plush modern hub today. It is so not because of government hand outs or subsides, but because of private entrepreneurship. We need to replicate this in every area and bring the benefits to everybody from urban India to the rural masses. The same revolution has taken place even in the telecommunication sector.

No matter what happens in the budget we shall continue working and striving towards our goal.

The Happionaire way is about empowering every person and I know it shall happen if we all work together. We are the change.

If you believe and agree with what I am saying, please e-mail this to everybody you know. We want everybody to benefit from India's economic growth where the power lies with people and not politicians and bureaucrats.

Happy wealth creation!
Yogesh Chabria

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