Bengaluru (Karnataka): Former Karnataka chief minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said the Union budget failed to meet the expectations of farmers, women, and people at large.
"I did not have many expectations from this budget but the country's farmers, women, and the general public were expecting more. Their expectation has gone in vain," Siddaramaiah, who is Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly, said reacting to the Union budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1. The Congress leader said he had expected announcements of some special programs to promote health, education, and agriculture in particular which "did not happen".
According to Siddaramaiah, a budget should be something that addresses problems such as hunger, poverty, unemployment but there were no signs of any steps taken in this direction. Accusing the government at the Centre of being pro-corporate, he said the reduction in taxes on corporate bodies will result in more taxes on ordinary citizens.
He also pointed out that the budget estimates that GDP growth will slow down over the next year from 9.2 percent to 8 percent. The subsidy money for farmers' fertilizers was 1.40 lakh crore this year which has been reduced to 1.05 lakh crore in the next fiscal, Siddaramaiah said. He predicted that this will increase the cost of fertilizers.
Speaking about Bengaluru, he said there was no allocation for the much-awaited suburban railway project in the city. Siddaramaiah also charged the Basavaraj Bommai government with failing to bring grants to the State.
