Budget directionless, lacks vision: Oppn
CHANDIGARH: Describing the budget as one which will break the back of common tax payers, leader of Opposition Abhay Singh Chautala, who is a senior INLD leader, on Friday said this budget is “directionless and disappointing”.
“It has disappointed all sections,” Chautala said, even as he also criticised the Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP government for mounting debt.
Haryana Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Kiran Choudhry said the budget lacked vision and failed to give the economy direction. It has let down the people of the state, especially the farmers, she said in a statement.
Kian, former excise and taxation minister, said no concrete steps had been proposed to pull the farm sector out of the morass of financial distress it has sunk into, better the lot of farmers, and make the state dismount the Rs 1.5-lakh crore mound of debt which is pushing Haryana on the slippery road to bankruptcy.
She said: “The government has shown no intention to rein in the unwanted expenditure, especially on its publicity blitzkrieg, making the expenditure exceed revenue receipts. The revenue deficit is alarming.”
The budget, she said, offers no hope to the man in the street and does little to give the sagging economy a push.
“It is bound to add to the mounting discontent of the people,” she said.
THRUST ON AGRI: CM
The thrust on agriculture and rural development will better the lot of the farmers and make life in the rural areas better by creating more opportunities, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said, hailing the budget.
He said the budget will turn “farming into more remunerative proposition”, further propel growth and generate employment.
“The emphasis on economic services and skilling, reflected in higher outlays, will not help generate jobs but also boost employability of the youth,” the chief minister said.
“That 28.7% of the total budget has been allocated to economic services, including rural development, and 33.89% has been allocated to social services more than underscores the attempt to lace growth with social welfare”, he said.