Budget manthan

Budget-making is much like Samudra Manthan, churning of the ocean of milk. The story of Samudra Manthan is related in the Mahabharat and Puranas. It talks about a mammoth collective effort by the devas and asuras to churn the milk ocean to obtain amrit, nectar of immortality.

The divine enterprise produced many valuables, herbs, trees, ratnas - gems, and supernatural animals. Goddess Lakshmi too emerged from this churning.

Budget-making, in a way, is like a manthan of financial resources. An elaborate and tedious task, budget-making requires a robust effort of various ministries, institutions, policy experts and civil servants. The exercise is vast and complex. Resources, like nectar, are limited and precious. Again, like the devas, asuras and others in the Samudra Manthan, stakeholders here are also many. Pulls and pressures from different quarters are intense. Various lobby groups, pressure groups, interest groups and advocacy groups are at work to exert influence. All this makes allocation of the finite funds an uphill task.

Warding off the asuras and rewarding the devas, that's critical and requires deft management, noble intent and a broad vision on the part of the government. The right churning and allocation of precious resources creates multiplier effect on wealth, well- being and happiness of people.