Former Union Ministers Suresh Prabhu and Sujana Chowdhary heaped praises on the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and termed it to be a ‘historic’ one that will propel the economy to a double digit growth despite the COVID-19 impact.
Addressing a press conference at the party office here on Friday, Mr. Suresh Prabhu compared the budget to the one presented in 1991 that heralded economic reforms and said this one also has taken the decisive break from the past with due importance to infrastructure, agriculture, health and education.
He pointed out that the economy registered a negative growth last year and economies of several countries had contracted due to the pandemic but now every rating agency accepts that a double digit growth is possible for India as this budget has created a new wave for economic growth.
The former minister was appreciative of the Finance Minister taking up reforms in fiscal and monetary policies along with removing the criminal aspects in the companies law. “In fact, the Modi government has been taking up corrective steps for the economy all through last year with stimulus packages,” he said.
Defending the privatisation of public sector units, he said it was only a method to provide better returns to the shareholders or the people of the country with the President as the custodian. Indian Railways has been getting unprecedented funds for capital expenditure which started when he was the Railway Minister, he asserted.
With regard to the ongoing farmers agitation, Mr. Prabhu felt there was some communication gap between the farmers and the government and efforts were on to bridge them. The best way forward is dialogue. The farm laws are meant to provide multiple markets to farmers but they seem to have grievances. We respect them and the government is open to talk to them,” he maintained.
Mr. Sujana Chowdhary hailed the budget for moving forward towards creation of a sustainable physical and social infrastructure with emphasis on health and education. “All this has been done without raising taxes, so this has to be appreciated,” he added.
