Hyderabad, February 24: Leader of the Opposition, N. Chandrababu Naidu, on Wednesday said the annual budget presented to the Assembly had neither vision nor direction and showed that the government has gone bankrupt.
Reacting to the budget, he wondered how the government would be able to continue the fee reimbursement scheme with a poor allocation of Rs. 2,000 crore when the arrears and fresh requirement for 24 lakh students was Rs. 5,516 crore. “I wonder if it will mortgage the Assembly to mobilise resources,” he said.
In the case of Jalayagnam too, his party’s fears that it would become a millstone around the neck of the State had come true with the State unable to either increase the allocation or clear the dues to contractors. Former Finance Minister Y. Ramakrishnudu said that of the Rs. 30,000 crore that was left after revenue expenditure, Rs. 15,000 crore has been allocated to irrigation and the remaining Rs. 15,000 crore to 23 different sectors showing the “impractical” nature of the budget.
Dubbing the budget proposals as ‘jugglery of figures’, CPI floor leader G. Mallesh said this would neither help in providing welfare to the people, nor in comprehensive development of the State. He feared that fresh taxes might be imposed to mobilise an additional Rs.10,000 crore.
J. Ranga Reddy (CPI-M) described it as a retrogressive budget and faulted the government for not according importance to major sectors. For G. Kishan Reddy (BJP), the budget reflected the ‘inefficiency” of the Congress government.
The budget was silent on the government’s promise to increase Rs. 2-a-kg rice quota to 30 kg and nine-hour free power supply to farmers, said Mr.Puvvada Nageswara Rao (CPI).
-Agencies