The Budget presented by the Union Finance Minister on Thursday is a forward looking one but it will widen huge regional disparity. While the Budget has attempted to spur growth and investment in the country, regional development, especially in State like Odisha, has been grossly neglected, stated Baleswar BJD MP Rabindra Kumar Jena.
The State Government has attempted to address a wide gamut of issues starting from agriculture, rural development to industrialisation, tax rationalisation etc. The Government has addressed the issue of lack of confidence by foreign investors by making its position clear on retrospective tax, which is a welcome step. This will help boost economic activity in the country. The focus on Micro Small Medium Enterprise (MSME) is expected to create employment and encourage entrepreneurship. The allocation of funds for the start-up capital will give a good opportunity to the youth of the country.
The Government has taken cognizance of the fact that manufacturing sector is going to be one of the significant contributors to India’s GDP. This is likely to put India in a better pedestal in global arena, said Jena.
However, he said unfortunately, the interest of the people of Odisha has been largely ignored, as it is seen in the Railway Budget. Odisha could get only one IIM and has been deprived of many other projects, he lamented.
“At least the Government has accepted our long standing demand to raise mining royalty, wherein Odisha has been losing about Rs5 crore a day and the cumulative loss of last two years of Odisha stands at about Rs4,000 crore now.
The negligence in the part of the Government to undermine Odisha’s interest will not only impact the much needed impetus to Odisha’s growth, but also will create huge
regional disparity.
It is also very unfortunate that Odisha did not get any additional allocation or special category status though we have been demanding the same for last several years,” said Jena, adding that Odisha, which is consistently suffering from various natural calamities, has been deprived of once again of its rightful dues.