1983-84 BUDGET 55 also unlikely to increase. Consequently, the situation in the States will be worse than at the Centre. Inter-State imbalances would also increase. It may be argued that the shortfall may be partially offset by a more intensive mobilisation of financial resources. This is most unlikely because public saving in India has been declining since 1976-77. Massive resource mobilisation in the last few years has made no difference to this declining tendency. In fact, of the additional resource mobilisation of Rs 12,290 crores envisaged in the plan for the Centre, Rs 5140 crores were to be raised by way of taxation. Against this target, during the first four years the Centre has introduced measures (including revision ofPandT and railway tariff) which are estimated to yield about Rs 6600 crores which exceeds the target by 28.4 per cent. One more year remains. But excess mobilisation is not reflected either in higher public saving or plan outlay because, except in -1981-82, the rate of increase in consumption expenditure has been higher than the rate of increase in revenue. There would also be a shortfall of resources on account of increases in Central subsidies. The spurt in current public expenditure is mainly attributable to defence and unproductive administration. On the capital side, unproductive assets like the Asiad complex have drained scarce material, financial and foreign exchange resources which were badly needed for the developmental activities. Thus, it follows that the stupendous mobilisation through budgetary and extra-budgetary sources has not resulted in higher saving and productive investment in public sector. The budget has surely put more money in the hands of savers and investors as well as the business corporations. It has done so by imposing heavier burdens on the masses of the working people who constitute the most important productive force in the economy. By eroding their real incomes and purchasing power through higher prices and heavier taxation, the domestic demand gets curtailed. Attempts to make it up by increasing dependence on the depressed world market would only land us in a bigger debt-trap. M J K THAVARAJ^ *Professor of Financial Administration, Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi*