HYDERABAD: State Planning Board vice chairman B Vinod Kumar, on Saturday, expressed displeasure over Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s fourth day financial package. He was annoyed over the fact that there was no announcement of financial support to State governments which have been facing huge financial crises due to a lack of revenue during the lockdown.
In a statement, Vinod Kumar said that as long as these announcements do not contain some direct financial support to States, they were just publicity gimmicks to divert attention from serious issues. “I condemn the callous attitude of the Prime Minister and Finance Minister for giving false hope to distressed people of the country through these phoney announcements every day without giving any substantial direct benefits and relief to them,” Vinod Kumar said.
He said that the structural reforms in any sector were always required. These reforms would take a few years for implementation at the ground level and there is no scope for immediate benefits. The moot point was how these reforms in atomic energy, minerals, space and defence sector pertained to relief measures to face the Covid crisis at an individual and institutional level, Vinod Kumar said.