BENGALURU/MYSURU: The Opposition Congress on Tuesday termed the Union budget as disappointing and said it failed to protect the interests of farmers, women and those hit by the Covid pandemic. Former Chief Minister and Opposition leader in the Assembly, Siddaramaiah, said they expected the budget to focus on health, education and agriculture sectors, but that was not done.
In the last seven years, the BJP government has taken loans to the tune of Rs 93 lakh crore, towards which it pays Rs 9.40 lakh crore interest annually. Nearly 50 per cent of the expenditure goes to debt servicing, the former CM alleged.
Referring to a cut in budgetary allocation for the MGNREGS, which came as a boon during the lockdown, generating employment especially in the rural pockets, the former CM said it has received Rs 25 crore lesser allocation this year, while Rs 80 crore additional allocation is given to the health sector, which required more funding.
There was much anticipation that funds will be allotted for the suburban rail project in Karnataka, but nothing has been announced. “There is no word about GST compensation. There are fears that the state’s economy may further collapse if the GST compensation is not paid by the Centre to the states from next year,” he felt
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president DK Shivakumar said the Centre failed to keep its word on providing jobs to two crore youths every year, and is now talking about providing jobs to 60 lakh people. Shivakumar said they had expected financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh to the kin of Covid victims and assistance to those who spent money to get treatment in private hospitals, but that was not done.
“There is no assistance or relief to people who lost jobs due to the pandemic, traders who suffered losses and for those working in the unorganised sectors,” he pointed out.