Dispatch 25#: Concluding Statements of All Previous Budget Speeches- Part 1

In this dispatch I have compiled the concluding statements of every Finance Ministers' Budget Speeches since 1947. It gives a good picture of the national priorities of different eras

Source: New Indian Express

1) Budget 1947-48: R K Shanmukham Shetty

I would conclude the Speech with an appeal to this House and through the House to the country at large. For the first time in two centuries we have a Government of our own, answerable to the people for its actions. It is the duty and the privilege of such a Government to render an account of its stewardship to the representatives of the people, but it has also the right to ask for the co-operation of the entire community in the carrying out of the accepted policies. Events of the last few weeks have unmistakably shown that the political problems arising out of our status have not yet been fully solved. While we have secured freedom from foreign yoke, mainly through the operation of world events and partly through a unique act of enlightened self-abnegation on behalf of erstwhile rulers of the country, we have yet to consolidate into one unified whole the many discordant elements in our national life. This can be achieved only by the rigorous establishment of the rule of law which is the only durable foundation on which the fabric of any democratic state can be raised. Respect for law is essentially a matter of political training and tradition and transition from a dependent to an independent status always makes it difficult in the initial stages to secure that unflinching obedience to the rule of law which always acquires a new meaning in a new political context. If the fabric of the state is not built on durable foundations, it will be futile to try and fill it with the material and moral contents of a good life. If India, just risen from bondage, is to realise her destiny as the leader of Asia and take her place in the front rank of free nations, she would require all the disciplined effort her sons can put forth in the years immediately ahead. The willing help and co-operation of all sections of the community is required in maintaining peace and order, in increasing production and in avoiding internecine quarrels whether between communities or between capital and labor. I am sure my appeal for this help and co-operation will not go in vain.

2) Budget 1948-49: John Mathai

In spite of all the trials to which our infant State has been subjected, we have the solid foundations on which we can confidently build the superstructure of our economic and social edifice. The pattern of that structure is entirely in our hands to draw. While fighting the uphill battle of freedom we dreamt the dream of an India free from want and insecurity, a land in which our people would have in abundance the moral and material contents of good life. But then our hands were tied and so we merely made plans which would improve our agriculture and industrialise our country and thus provide a higher standard of living to our masses. From August 15th, 1947, the chains of our bondage have been broken and we are free to translate our dreams into reality. The plans are there, but we find that our freedom was born in an era so fluid and fast changing that any pre-determined step other than the next obsolete before it can be taken. We feel like the pilgrim who drags his weary limbs finally to the mountain top, only to find higher peaks stretching before his eyes. It is by no means the journey’s end and the night falls and engulfs him in darkness. And like him we are inspired to pray in the spirit of the favorite hymn of Mahatma Gandhi- Lead Kindly Light. The next step is enough for us if it is illuminated by the star of our ambition and fortified by the faith in our destiny.

3) Budget 1949-50: John Mathai

On a survey of world conditions today, I feel that we have good reason for taking a hopeful view of our financial position. We are not alone in having to fight scarcities and inflation. These problems confront most countries in the post-war world. We can, however, take comfort from the fact that, unlike some other countries, our financial position is intrinsically sound. We have only a moderate public debt in relation to our national income and we have considerable external reserves with practically no external debt. We have weathered the storm and stress of the partition and its terrible aftermath. In spite of the heavy demands on our resources for the relief and rehabilitation of refugees, the import of food on an unprecedented scale from overseas and the defence of Kashmir against aggression,we are in a position to balance our budget, without sacrificing any of'our essential schemes of development.

A balanced national budget may, and often does, cover a multitude of ill-balanced family budgets. In that respect, we have still a formidable task ahead of us, the task of fighting want, sickness and poverty and raising the living standards of the millions to whom the emancipation of the country will be a mockery unless it is translated in terms of opportunities for a fuller, freer and better life. This task is not beyond our resources but it requires the co-operation of, all classes and sections of the community in a spirit of partnership. I have no doubt that this co-operation will be forthcoming and I pray that my stewardship of the finances of the country may contribute in some degree to the accomplishment of this task.

C D Deshmukh/ Source: Business Today

4) Budget Speech 1952-53: C D Deshmukh

The edifice of our prosperity cannot be built on props of outside assistance without sacrificing something vital in the nation's spirit but can be built enduringly only by the efforts of our own people. If the budgetary burdens are sometimes found to be irksome, I trust those who find it so in this House and outside will remember that we carry these burdens for ourselves and our children and not for someone else. I have no doubt that the realization that the people of this country are doing the utmost in their power to help themselves will widen the flow of assistance from our friends outside.

5) Budget Speech 1953-54: C D Deshmukh

The fulfillment of a programme of a planned economic development depends not merely on the laying down of policies and making the finance available but on efficient administration and public co-operation. The Five-Year Plan which, in the nature of things is bound to be the first of many Plans, lays down the policy for next three years in each major field of development. To carry through this policy and programme with the maximum amount of public co-operation is the main task before both the Centre and the State governments.

6) Budget Speech 1954-55: C D Deshmukh

No idea of the vast upsurge in the national life can be conveyed by translating all this in terms of money or compressing it into a classified table of estimates and expenditures. The face of the country is changing and changing for the better. We know-and none more than those on the Government Benches that much still remains to be done. But we can bend our energies to the tasks ahead fortified by the knowledge that, in spite of mistakes and difficulties, we have made progress and, conscious that we are on the right road, however long and arduous it may be, we shall persevere, with a stout heart, with, the task of building up a more prosperous India. In this task we have received a significant and important measure of assistance from friendly countries for which we are grateful and which only spurs us on to more sustained efforts without impairing our will to be self-reliant as much as possible.

7) Budget Speech 1955-56: C D Deshmukh

All over the country people of small means are making a contribution towards the plan by the offer of their resources and sometimes their labour. I myself have been receiving from small people, sometimes students who wish to remain anonymous, small contributions towards the Plan. It is to me personally a sustaining and heartening experience and if the spirit behind this continues to animate the people as a whole, we can look forward with confidence to the successful implementation of this and of future plans.

8) Budget Speech 1956-57: C D Deshmukh

The success that has attended on the first Plan makes it clear, I believe, that the people of this country are capable of, and willing to put forth, the effort necessary to achieve bigger things and to make for themselves and for their children an India befitting of her great heritage. Our destiny is now in our hands. Our people have throughout history been known for their almost infinite patience and perseverance. Given the leadership, they have never failed to respond in more than adequate measure. It is these people, sir, that have now girt their loins and stand ready to launch forth on their new, and so far their greatest, endeavor. They can rightfully expect us, their chosen leaders and representatives, to give them of our best counsels, loyal guidance and informed direction.

T T Krishnamachari with Nehru/ Source: Open Magazine

9) Budget Speech 1958-59: Jawaharlal Nehru

We live in an age of revolutionary changes when the development of science and technology has opened out vast avenues of human progress. We live also at a time when a great part of the resources of the world are being directed to preparations for war and the production of terrible weapons of mass destruction. While space travel beckons to us and the vast expenses of the universe almost appear to be in our reach, the horizon of our minds limited by fear and the shadow of terrible disaster hangs over us. How can we and others raise ourselves above fear and hatred and the petty conflicts that are so out of place in the new world that is taking shape. How can we in India function with courage and unity and grasp with strong hands and stout hearts at this future? It has been given to us of this generation to face mighty problems and to achieve great results. We can only serve our people or the world if we hold to our ideals and live upto them. Above all, we have to realise that our success depends on ourselves and not on others, on our own strength and wisdom, on our unity and cooperation and on the spirit of our people whom we are privileged to serve.

Morarji Desai

10) Budget Speech 1959-60 (Morarji Desai)

In recent months we have been passing through a difficult period and as the Prime Minister summed it up so aptly when he presented the budget last year, our crisis is a crisis of development, a crisis of resources. I feel we have passed through the most difficult phase and that there is no reason for taking a pessimistic view of the situation. Many of the major development schemes will be completed in the course of the remaining period of the Plan and will start yielding results. The country’s foreign exchange difficulties are being steadily surmounted and the overall budgetary deficits have started moving down significantly. Although the price situation is still a matter of some concern, there is no reason to doubt the inherent soundness of the country’s economy and its ability to weather the current difficulties. These difficulties are purely transitional and should act as a spur to greater effort on the part of the community. There can, in any case, be no question of looking back or of slowing down the country’s economic development. This would require greater production, greater saving and more restraint in consumption-in other words greater efforts and more sacrifices by the community for ensuring better future for the country. I am certain that these efforts and sacrifices would be forthcoming and that we could go forward with a stout heart and with confidence in our high destiny.

11) Budget Speech 1960-61 (Morarji Desai)

There is, however no reason to take a complacent view of the situation. The end of the second plan marks the beginning of the Third plan will require greater efforts and larger sacrifices on the part of the community if the country has to sustain, as it inevitably must, a larger Plan. The path of our progress is bound to be difficult until our economy gets over the hump and becomes self generating. Until this position is reached, which one might hope maybe at the end of the next Plan we shall have to strain every nerve to mobilise the maximum resources, from both taxation and savings, to enable the country to make the progress that is imperative to our survival. It is perhaps a truism to say that no one, much less an under-developed country like ours can stand still or stay stagnant. We have to move forward and make whatever sacrifices are necessary for this. I have no doubt that this will be done and I would ask the House to consider this Budget.