Congress slammed the Haryana budget, presented by Chief Minister M L Khattar in the Assembly here, saying it disappoints all sections of the society.
Expressing concerns over the state debt, pegged at nearly Rs 1.98 lakh crore, Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda said there has been a three-fold increase in debt in the past five years.
"This means, in an average, every Haryanvi now carries a debt of Rs 80,000 on his head. This budget will push the state deeper into debt," he said.
A former chief minister, Hooda said there is nothing in this budget which will please any section. Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala called it an anti-people budget.
"It is a hopeless, anti-people, debt-ridden and zero-performance budget," he said, adding that the BJP-led government has pushed Haryana to the verge of bankruptcy. He said the debt has increased by nearly 280 per cent in five years.
Surjewala said the Haryana budget gave "zero hope" to the youth and asked why it did not mention how many jobs it would create as the state had the "highest unemployment rate in the country at 28.7 per cent". Haryana Congress president Kumari Selja said the budget disappoints every section.
"There is nothing in this budget for the youth, farmers, Dalits or any other section," the senior Congress leader said, expressing concerns over the state''s "mounting debt". Hooda demanded that the BJP-JJP government issue a white paper on the state of the economy.
