Jaipur, Feb 1 (IANS) Congress National General Secretary and former Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot, on Sunday, described the Union Budget presented by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament as “directionless, confusing, and deeply disappointing for the common man”.
Pilot said that when capital expenditure savings of nearly Rs 1 lakh crore have been recorded every year over the past three years, the Union government’s attempt to seek applause by increasing allocations merely on paper cannot be concealed from the public.
He added that the Central government failed to spend nearly Rs 33,000 crore on direct public benefit schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana–Gramin, and the Skill Development Scheme, demonstrating that the rural poor are not a priority.
Additionally, around Rs 50,000 crore remained unspent under the Jal Jeevan Mission due to the Centre’s failure to transfer funds to the states.
Pilot also said that while the Centre has retained the states’ share in central taxes at 41 per cent, it has failed to address the issue of the states bearing nearly 40 per cent of the expenditure under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).
He demanded that the states’ share be increased to 45 per cent.
Calling the budget extremely disappointing for Rajasthan, Pilot said the absence of any allocation in the Water Resources Ministry’s budget for the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project, the exclusion of Rajasthan from all seven proposed high-speed rail corridors, and the lack of provision for previously approved railway lines clearly show that the BJP government has no sympathy for the people of the state.
He added that the budget offers no relief to farmers and demanded that the BJP-led state government issue a white paper on unemployment.
Pilot warned that this budget will further aggravate unemployment and push educated and highly qualified youth into menial jobs.
–IANS
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