Budget belies public expectations, say Congress, JD(S)

 There has been a mixed reaction in the political circles in the state to the budget proposals presented by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday.

State Congress president G Parameshwara termed the budget as anti-development. The Centre has not announced any new scheme in the annual financial statement. Though the Centre used to speak at length about curbing black money, it has not announced any measure in this regard.

The Centre has not announced any infrastructure project to Bengaluru city. Jaitley has disappointed all sections of society, he added.

State JD(S) president H D Kumaraswamy said there were a lot of expectations from the people about high ticket announcements in the

budget, but the Centre had let them down. “It is one of the worst budgets ever presented. There are no new programmes for the farmers and the youth, the two sectors which the Centre claimed were being given the highest priority,” Kumaraswamy said.

State BJP president B S Yeddyurappa said the budget proposals will help the poor, the middle class and farmers. He said that the budget had a vision to double the income of farmers in the next five years. Revenue mobilisation has been enhanced without burdening the common man, he said. BJP leader and former chief minister Jagadish Shettar said the decision to cut income tax rate from 10% to 5%  for income up to Rs 5 lakh per annum will benefit the common man.

The decision to merge the railway budget with the general budget is historic, he added.

CM terms budget ‘incremental’

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday termed the Union budget 2017-18 as “incremental”.

Addressing a press conference at the Dasara Exhibition Grounds, he said the budget is not development-oriented and does not have scope for job creation, reports DHNS from Mysuru.

“There are no major changes in the schemes. The demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes was to divert the people’s attention from the failure of the Prime Minister’s ‘Achhe din’ concept. The rich and corrupt are not affected by demonetisation. But the poor, farmers and labourers are the worst hit. There is no growth in income tax revenue. According to the revised estimate, income tax revenue is 17%, the same as last year,” he added.

Siddaramaiah said that though many states are reeling under severe drought, the Centre has not announced any benefit to manage the situation. It has not announced any major projects even for the agriculture sector and farmers.