Opposition parties on Wednesday criticised the Union Budget with former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh questioning Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement of the ill-effects of demonetisation being transient.
“There is no indication on what has convinced the Finance Minister that the demonetisation effect will be temporary and will not affect the economy,” Dr. Singh told NDTV.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi too had some sharp words on the subject. “The main issue India faces today is unemployment and the ways to solve that problem. The budget offers absolutely nothing on that issue. No vision. No idea. We were expecting some fireworks, we got a bit of damp squib,” he said.
He said there was a big expectation that there would be something for farmers, poor, youth and the unemployed. “But there was no clear vision. There was some poetry. Mr. Jaitley gave a good speech, but without a basis,” he said.
On the merging of railway and financial budgets, Mr. Gandhi said the “fundamental problem of Railways is safety. This government’s record on rail safety is very bad. But did he speak about safety?”
Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury termed the budget “contractionary and against accelerating growth.” It offered nothing to develop infrastructure. “It is a direct attack on people’s livelihood,” he said.
Mr. Yechury said the fiscal deficit target had been achieved through expenditure reduction. Total revenue receipts had come down from 9.4% of GDP in 2016-17 Revised Estimate (RE) to 9% of GDP in Budget Estimate (BE) of 2017-18. “Taxes forgone due to budgetary measures have gone up by about ₹30,000 crore and are put at 2.1% of GDP,” he added.
Aam Aadmi Party leader and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the national capital had been yet again deprived of its due from Central share. “Delhi’s share in Central taxes remains stagnant for 17th year at ₹325 crore,” Mr. Sisodia tweeted.
