The Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), Odisha unit termed the Union Budget as a mere ‘campaign sheet’ of the NDA Government for the upcoming Assembly elections in five States. “This Budget has made more emphasis on the housing sector while only 18 per cent of the last year’s allocation has been spent in the sector. Similarly, only 24 per cent in defence, and 29 per cent in employment and 33 per cent in skill development sectors have been spent in 2015-16,” said INTUC State president Ram Chandra Khuntia. He criticised the Modi Government for utilizing only 44 per cent of allocation in the consumer, food and PDS sector. Though the Government claims to have allocated `38,000 crore for implementation of the MGNREGS during 2016-17, less than half of the allocation made in the current fiscal has been spent, he said.
Dr Khuntia commented that tax-payer Government employees have been suffering a lot as it has not increased the income tax limit. Its proposal to waive house rent up to `60,000 will only benefit high-ranked officers. The proposals to collect dividend income tam and impose more taxes on mobiles and services will put burden on common people. Similarly, the new scheme to make black money white and the proposal to dispose of income tax appeal cases worth `5.5 lakh crore will only benefit unscrupulous traders, Dr Khuntia said.