Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday termed misleading claims by opposition leaders that if any state is not named in the Budget speech, then it does not get any budgetary allocation.
Replying to a Budget discussion in the Lok Sabha, Sitharaman asserted that no state was being denied money.
The Parliament Budget Session 2024 is currently underway. It commenced on July 22, 2024, and is scheduled to conclude on August 12, 2024.
She recalled that in the past Budgets by the UPA government also did not mention names of all states in their Budget speech.
“I have been picking up on Budget speeches since 2004-2005, 2005-2006, 2006-2007, 2007-2008 and so on. The Budget of 2004-2005 did not take the name of 17 states. I would like to ask the members of the UPA government at that time – did money not go to those 17 states? Did they stop it?” Sitharaman said.
She was responding to comments by several opposition members that the Budget has provided funds only to Bihar and Andhra Pradesh and nothing to other states.
Sitharaman said India is the fastest-growing economy globally and has overcome the after-effects of the pandemic due to heavy capex push.
She also said the government is complying with the fiscal deficit trajectory. It will bring down the deficit to below 4.5 per cent by 2025-26 from the targeted 4.9 per cent for the current fiscal. The deficit was 5.6 per cent in 2023-24.
She said a misleading campaign is being promoted. “It pains me to know that they could say that you are not mentioned in the budget speech, you get nothing.”
“In a budget speech if a state’s name is not mentioned, this does not mean the state does not get anything,” FM clarified.
She also said that it is wrong to say only two states benefitted from the budget.
FY25 budget has not given lesser allocation to any sector compared to last year, she highlighted.
The budget aims to achieve Viksit Bharat’s vision by 2047, FM said.
The reply from the Finance Minister was addressing issues and concerns raised by opposition parties. Members of Parliament are discussing various issues, including the Union Budget, the economic situation, and other matters of national importance.
Opposition parties on Monday tore into the Union Budget saying most of the states have got nothing in the first major economic document of the Modi 3.0 government.
Treasury benches on the other hand lauded the Rs 48.2 lakh crore Union Budget presented in Parliament on July 23 saying the country has made all-round development.
Participating in the general discussion on the budget, senior BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi reeled out data on GDP growth, rising foreign exchange reserves, declining fiscal deficit and a sharp increase in foreign remittances to highlight the achievements of the government on the economic front.
Seeking to counter the charges levelled by opposition parties during the discussion regarding government favouring corporates, Trivedi said the corporate taxes have been reduced to make the industry competitive.
He pointed out that global MNCs are shifting away their base from China where corporate tax is 25 per cent.
The BJP leader also lauded the central government’s work on controlling inflation.
On the Congress party’s charge that no person belonging to SC, ST and OBC was present at the traditional ‘halwa ceremony’ held before the budget, he said, “Ye woh log pooch rahe hain, jo 60 saal se khate rahe halwa aur janta ko khilate rahe balua. (Such remarks are being made by those who keep relishing halwa for 60 years but gave nothing to the people)”.
Congress member Imran Pratapgarhi said the budget has done injustice to states, youth, farmers, women and the middle class.
He said the finance minister has spoken only 10 words on inflation at a time when tomato prices have skyrocketed to Rs 100 per kg.
Pratapgarhi described the budget as “jhoot ka pulinda” (pack of lies) and a compilation of Prime Minister’s ‘Mann Ki Baat’.
Congress MP Rajeev Shukla criticised the budget on several counts and made a strong case for a review of several provisions in the GST law to help the MSME sector.
He also said there is huge unemployment in the country and its impact was visible on the BJP’s Lok Sabha seas tally.
Shukla wondered how jobs will be generated when the capital expenditure has been reduced by Rs 1 lakh crore.
Comments
0 comment