Charging the Government with ignoring the poor in the Budget for the next fiscal, the Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Wednesday said in the Rajya Sabha the NDA regime in last six years “mismanaged economy” and encouraged “crony capitalism” by favouring “three or four big boys.”
Rejecting his claim, BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi termed the Budget as “bold and reformist” and said it took care of all sections of the society. He also listed out several welfare measures taken to reach out to the poor during the lockdown period last year.
Listing some of the big steps, the newly elected MP to the Upper House said in his maiden speech, the next year will see more than `100 crore infused into the infrastructure sector to boost the economy. Modi also said disinvestment was needed to raise money and make the economy vibrant.
Initiating the debate on the budget presented Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, Sibal said the Budget document was “jugglery of data.”
He also questioned the Government for not listening to “mann ki baat” of farmers protesting at Delhi’s borders, saying their demand was Minimum Support Price(MSP), which is a minimum thing that they are asking for unlike big corporates.
Cautioning the government against the farm laws to bring in reforms in the agriculture sector, Sibal said such experiments in the US and Europe led to corporatisation. Claiming that the number of small farmers had reduced in the US due to these measures, he said the suicide rate was more in rural areas of the US and compared to urban centres.
Noting that subsidies given to farmers were lower in India compared to China, the US and Europe, the Congress leader said “In the US, every farmer gets from the Government about USD 62,000 aa year. You are not willing to give our farmers MSP. Farmer does not ask for more, your corporates do...” When corporates ask for tax relief and exemptions, the government gives them, he added.
Terming the Budget as “vote bank politics,” he said while it talks about growth it completely ignores the people of the country. Sibal said several indicators have shown that the economy was in shambles even before the Covid crisis.
Sibal also took critical stock of AtmaNirbhar Bharat and asked if the Sc and St besides minorities have become self-reliant. The Congress leader further said the government was not focussing on job losses. He said 120 million jobs were lost due to Covid-19 pandemic but the allocation for MNREGA has been reduced.
Terming that the Budget 2021 was “jugglery of data”, Sibal said the government was “perpetuating a rigged economic system” besides doing a “loot bank politics” as more development works have been announced for poll-bound states of West Bengal, Assam and others.
While every budget has twin objectives of growth and equity, the government has preferred growth and forgotten the poor people of the country, while also promoting “crony capitalism”, he alleged.
Sibal, without naming anyone, said one big corporate was all over in all sectors from ports to airports to gas and railways.
The projects were e given to them overriding think-tank Niti Ayog and Finance Ministry’s objections, he claimed.