Former Union finance minister and BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, who is on an indefinite dharna in Narsinghpur protesting against the Madhya Pradesh government and NTPC in support of farmers' issues, has denounced the health coverage scheme in the Union budget as being 'moonshine' (nonsense).
He termed the budget as a 'fraud on the sentiments of farmers' and more like 'an election manifesto without budgetary provisions'.
While demanding dues of sugarcane farmers and fulfilment of promises made to farmers displaced by NTPC plant in Narsinghpur, Sinha was forced to spend Friday night shivering under the open sky in the premises of the collector's office.
Sinha had come to meet the Narsingpur collector for the second time after he submitted a memorandum demanding justice for the farmers of the district who were displaced by the NTPC plant and withdrawal of cases against farmers lodged for protests under the SC/ST Act. Sinha was not even allowed to erect a tent during his stir.
Speaking exclusively to THE WEEK, Sinha said, “The budget is nothing more than playing a fraud on the sentiments of the farmers, making promises that will not be kept because there are no provisions.”
He added “there is a difference between an election manifesto and a budget. In the election manifesto, a political party is not required to give estimates of expenditure on the promises made, but in the budget, you are supposed to make financial provisions and inform the Parliament and people how you will implement a scheme.”
Referring to the lack of budgetary provisions for the schemes, he said, “Even if you are at a stage where the details of a scheme are not worked out, you make a token provision of Rs 1 or Rs 1,000, which gives you an opening to incur expenditure with the approval of the Parliament later.’’
On the medical coverage scheme, Sinha termed it as 'moonshine'.
He said, “There is no time limit described by the finance minister,” adding, “The finance minister had said the Niti Aayog will consult with the state governments. It’s a long process and if there is burden on state government, they will not accept it as they are in the throes of financial difficulties because of GST and other issues. So when it will be implemented, if it all, nobody knows.’’
