Budget 2016: Opposition mocks Jaitley’s budget, says FM is hoodwinking farmers
The opposition parties dubbed Finance Minister Arun Jaitely’s budget an attempt to hoodwink by using rhetoric of being “propoor” and “pro-farmer” for creating perception of “midway course correction” keeping in mind the next Lok Sabha polls and a string of assembly polls round the corner.
“They are trying to hoodwink farmers. Even defeat in Bihar elections has not taught them a lesson. The lofty claim of highest ever allocation for MNREGA is patently false because it was higher in the year 2010-11. Maintaining 2010-11 levels in real terms would have required an expenditure of over Rs. 65000 crores in 2016-17,” CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said. Elections are due in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry and Assam by April this year. By March next year, Uttarakhand, UP and Punjab would vote to elect new assemblies. Later that year, Gujarat will go to polls and the year after that it will be the turn of Karnataka, MP, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. “What is pro-poor or pro-farmer in this budget? The fertilizer subsidy has been reduced by around Rs 2,000 crore, and food subsidy by Rs 500 crore. The crop insurance scheme is for insurance firms and not really for farmers,” CPI’s D Raja said. Yechury also criticized the additional cess in the name of Krishi Kalyan. “Increasing cess hurts the common man, with indirect tax collections proposed to be up by Rs 20,600 cr. Direct tax proposals are down by Rs 1,060 cr. This means more burden on common people as indirect taxes are inflationary. So there will be no expansion in domestic demand,” Yechury added. The parties also questioned BJP’s change in heart, from criticizing MNREGA to embracing it. “There is so much distress in agriculture sector, the government realized that if they don’t talk about farmers now, the voters will not forgive them in 2019. So BJP which was opposing MNERGA has suddenly found favour in it,” RJD MP Jai Prakash Yadav said.
BJD (Biju Janta Dal) which in Parliamentary debates, is usually more inclined towards the government, said that though there are a lot of “declarations” it needs to be seen how they are implemented. “The FM has tried to maintain a balance between farm and infrastructure development. There was an indication of some sort of course correction in President’s speech too and we saw government taking another step towards that direction,” BJD leader Bhartruhari Mahtab said.
The Trinamool Congress criticized the FM’s announcement of 100 per cent FDI in food products produced and marketed in India. MP Derek O’ Brien questioned why Jaitley didn’t reveal these details in a transparent manner. “Lots of good prose in the budget, but where are the jobs? Where are the solutions? There is an emphasis on social sector schemes, but the truth is that states have been burdened for funding new schemes.”
“They are trying to hoodwink farmers. Even defeat in Bihar elections has not taught them a lesson. The lofty claim of highest ever allocation for MNREGA is patently false because it was higher in the year 2010-11. Maintaining 2010-11 levels in real terms would have required an expenditure of over Rs. 65000 crores in 2016-17,” CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said. Elections are due in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry and Assam by April this year. By March next year, Uttarakhand, UP and Punjab would vote to elect new assemblies. Later that year, Gujarat will go to polls and the year after that it will be the turn of Karnataka, MP, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. “What is pro-poor or pro-farmer in this budget? The fertilizer subsidy has been reduced by around Rs 2,000 crore, and food subsidy by Rs 500 crore. The crop insurance scheme is for insurance firms and not really for farmers,” CPI’s D Raja said. Yechury also criticized the additional cess in the name of Krishi Kalyan. “Increasing cess hurts the common man, with indirect tax collections proposed to be up by Rs 20,600 cr. Direct tax proposals are down by Rs 1,060 cr. This means more burden on common people as indirect taxes are inflationary. So there will be no expansion in domestic demand,” Yechury added. The parties also questioned BJP’s change in heart, from criticizing MNREGA to embracing it. “There is so much distress in agriculture sector, the government realized that if they don’t talk about farmers now, the voters will not forgive them in 2019. So BJP which was opposing MNERGA has suddenly found favour in it,” RJD MP Jai Prakash Yadav said.
BJD (Biju Janta Dal) which in Parliamentary debates, is usually more inclined towards the government, said that though there are a lot of “declarations” it needs to be seen how they are implemented. “The FM has tried to maintain a balance between farm and infrastructure development. There was an indication of some sort of course correction in President’s speech too and we saw government taking another step towards that direction,” BJD leader Bhartruhari Mahtab said.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal too mocked the government, saying that while there is nothing for farmers, the government is offering ‘amnesty schemes’ for black money hoarders. “The BJP vowed to bring back black money through enforcement, not through amnesty schemes. This is what Chidambaram also did. What is the difference?” he questioned.
The Trinamool Congress criticized the FM’s announcement of 100 per cent FDI in food products produced and marketed in India. MP Derek O’ Brien questioned why Jaitley didn’t reveal these details in a transparent manner. “Lots of good prose in the budget, but where are the jobs? Where are the solutions? There is an emphasis on social sector schemes, but the truth is that states have been burdened for funding new schemes.”
