Opposition MPs term budget visionless, pro-corporate

The opposition MPs on Monday hit out at the Union budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Lok Sabha on Friday, calling it visionless and pro-corporate. As the lower house took up discussion on the budget, the treasury benches hailed Sitharaman's maiden venture as historic as it put the country on path to a 5 trillion dollar economy. Both the Congress and the BJP accused each other of creating a mess with the economy during their respective regimes.

The discussion on the budget was initiated by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor who expressed shock at government's “silence” on providing jobs and claimed that the BJP had promised over two crore jobs every year.  Tharoor took a jibe at Sitharaman's budget speech where she had presented an anology of elephant from Tamil Sangam literature. Tharoor said, “The budget was like a slow-moving elephant though they had expected a tiger. There was no animal spirit.” 

Interspersing his speech with Urdu couplets, Tharoor hit out at the budget saying it failed to meet the aspirations of various sections of the society. “This government is giving step-motherly treatment to the farmers, who provide food to the country. The farmers are forced to commit suicides. Though the government has given some increased allocation to the agriculture sector, it is primarily for the Prime Minister Sammannidhi Yojna that provides Rs 6,000 per year to farmers.” Even this scheme was not to provide relief to farmers as what Rs 500 per month would do to a family in distress, except for winning votes for the BJP, the Thiruvananthapuram MP asked.

Tharoor said education was not a priority as even the formula suggested by the Kothari commission of spending 6 per cent of the GDP was not being met.

Tharoor said consumption has gone down as seen in the sale of automobiles and FMCG. The slowdown was talked about in the economic survey but missed in the budget, he added.

Replying to Tharoor, BJP MP and former minister of state for finance, Jayant Sinha, said there were many provisions in the budget which would give fillip to consumption. “The Congress may not understand the contribution of Rs 6,000 per year given under the Prime Minister Samannidhi Yojna to farmers. This will boost consumption. We have given so much relief to people in rural areas and and the poor through various schemes that it would boost consumption. Even the tax rebates will propel consumption.”

Sinha said the economy was in a mess when the NDA government came to power, but they nurtured it back to health. “We are looking at not only a five trillion dollar economy, but a 10 trillion dollar economy in coming years. The government has increased the GDP by 70 per cent, from Rs 111 lakh crore to 188 lakh crore. This is a forward looking budget.”

Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee said the budget was for the corporates. He hit out at the government for proposing disinvestment, and accused the government of being silent on unemployment even as the joblessness rate was at a 45 year-high.

Akali Dal MP and party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal presented a case for giving Tax Holiday to Punjab. He said the state had suffered for over two decades because of the exodus of industries to neighbouring hilly states like Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand where tax rebates are given. 

Badal also spoke about the impending Punjab Water Crisis and said that 80 per cent of water blocks in the state were over-exploited whereas in Rajasthan 71 per cent water blocks are over-exploited. He also said that Punjab’s water situation is worse than that of Rajasthan.

The discussion will continue on Tuesday, and later the finance minister is expected to reply.