Deccan Chronicle

Nothing offered to alleviate peoples’ misery, rural wage crash: Yechury Budget about ‘platitudes, slogans’: Left

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New Delhi, Feb. 1: Left parties on Saturday said that the Union Budget was all about “platitudes and slogans” and exposed how the government is abdicating all its responsibi­lities by privatisin­g public assets.

Slamming the Union Budget presented by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Left parties said it was a “budget of privatisat­ion” and has nothing substantia­l to alleviate “people’s miseries”.

“The less you have to say longer will be the speech. The budget has completely failed to address the current economic slowdown. It does not have a road map on how the economy can be turned around,” CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said.

He said the Indian economy is bordering on recession and the FM’s speech didn’t take the advice given by her Chief Economic Advisor of “increasing public expenditur­e.”

“The actual figures of revenues and expenditur­e plan was not mentioned in the Budget speech. The government is meeting the revenue shortfall by privatisat­ion like selling stakes in the Life Insurance Corporatio­n of India.

“They have announced that there will be lowering of central funding for centrally sponsored schemes and the burden will be passed on to states,” Mr Yechury said, adding that this is another attack on federalism.

He also said the Budget was one of “platitudes and slogans.”

“Nothing substantia­l to alleviate peoples’ misery, the growing unemployme­nt, rural wage crash, farmers’ distress suicides and galloping prices,” he tweeted. CPI general secretary, D. Raja said the Union Budget exposed how the government is abdicating all its responsibi­lities by privatisin­g public assets.

“This budget is a budget for privatisat­ion and everything is to be done using PPP route including railways, health and he said.

He also said despite repeated claims of the government to double the income of the farmers, the distress continues.

“No hope to be seen in the Budget for the millions of unemployed youth of the country,” he said.

The All India Forward Bloc said the Budget was “an offer to sell India.”

“The Budget proposes large scale privatisat­ion and disinvestm­ent of national and natural assets. The proposal to privatise the LIC is highly deplorable and against the larger interest of the country. “More privatisat­ion of Indian Railways, Banks etc. Are also detrimenta­l to the interest of the workers and consumers,” a statement from the party said. infrastruc­ture,”

According to astrology, Saturday belongs to Saturn and the colour of the day is dark-blue. But finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman came wearing a bright yellow sari to present her second General Budget. Yelow is the colour for Thursday.

Those who believes in wearing colour of the day believes that yellow is the colour of aspiration. In fact, some journalist­s tweeted in the morning that the finance minister will present an aspiration budget. And lo and behold, while reading her speech, Ms Sitharaman mentioned several times that this was an aspiration­al Budget.

Ultimately, however, she could not finish her speech because she suddenly felt uneasy. Veteran MPs claimed that she is the first finance minister who could not read the full Budget speech.

 ?? — PTI ?? Farmers carry cabbage from their field on the outskirts of Amritsar on Saturday. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced insurance of 6.11 crore farmers under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna.
— PTI Farmers carry cabbage from their field on the outskirts of Amritsar on Saturday. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced insurance of 6.11 crore farmers under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna.
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