Dismissing the Union Budget as incremental, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said the provisions of the budget were “neither growth-oriented nor offered any prospects for job creation.”
Speaking to reporters in Mysuru, he also slammed the Union Budget for its failure to extend the much-promised economic benefits of its demonetisation exercise to the poor, who had suffered after the sudden withdrawal of ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes.
He said the budget lacks a policy direction and allocation of funds for key sectors. Except for a nominal increase in agricultural credit, no programmes have been announced for farmers, despite severe drought prevailing in many parts of the country, including Karnataka.
Crop loan
Though Karnataka had appealed to the Centre to waive 50% of the crop loan taken from nationalised banks so that the State government can complement the efforts by taking necessary steps to write off loans obtained from co-operative societies coming under the State, the budget makes no such promise, he said.
Mr. Siddaramaiah said there was little change even in the Prime Minister’s Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) for providing crop insurance.
“Though State government bears 50% of the expenditure under the scheme and had spent ₹675 crore last year, the scheme is called Prime Minister’s scheme,” he remarked sarcastically.
Out of the ₹17.9 lakh crore, which were in circulation, as much as ₹15.4 lakh crore, amounting to 86% were collected by the banks in the form of demonetised notes. Only ₹400 crore or 0.002% out of the collected money were in the form of fake notes, said the Chief Minister.
Futuristic, says BJP
Meanwhile, the BJP described the budget as “pro-development”. State president of the party B.S. Yeddyurappa said the budget was an attempt to introduce the strong economy of India to the world through several innovative ways of raising resources without burdening people.
‘Pro-poor’
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar termed the budget as “futuristic and pro-poor”. He said the budget will help in boosting the economy and ushering in an era of rapid growth across all sectors.
