Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah reacted to Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley by saying “disappointing” and “average”.
He said there could have been more funds allocated to the agricultural community considering that the Government reaped the benefits of low crude prices.
He said, “The expectations were high from the Finance Minister and Prime Minister for agriculture and rural demand. They could have allocated more funds to the agriculture sector.” This year, the Burden on State has increased by Rs1987 crore. “The Finance Minister has taken away from one hand and given it to the other hand,” said Siddaramaiah.
The Government’s move to impose 0.5 per cent cess on all services would benefit the Centre, without contribution to the state, he said, adding that more funds should have been allocated to the MNREGA scheme.