Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday took a swipe at the Modi Government’s annual Budget pointing lacunas and termed it “no data available (NDA) Government”.
Initiating a discussion on the Union Budget 2022-23, Chidambaram talked over the ruling dispensation's “failure” to have the record on oxygen shortage deaths, corpses floating in rivers and migrants walking back home during the coronavirus-induced lockdown.
Speaking during the discussion, while former prime minister HD Devegowda expressed concern over the planned river linking projects announced in the Union Budget, saying they will cause shortage of drinking water in Karnataka, former bureaucrat turned politician Jawahar Sircar stated this budget institutionalises the difference between classes in India. The TMC Rajya Sabha member also mentioned that nobody gave the government right to sell-off assets the nation created over 70 years
Chidambaram said unemployment is on the rise in the country and questioned the Centre over the steps taken for the welfare of the common people following reduced subsidies for petroleum, fertiliser, food, among others. "Welfare has been thrown to the wind for 142 billionaires of this country,” he said.
Chidambaram spoke immediately after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reply to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address. He said he was speaking eloquently about jobs and employment, and as on March 31, 2021, there were 8.72 lakh vacancies in the central government and the government made 78,264 recruitments, leaving nearly 8 lakh vacancies. "This is the statistic I hope the prime minister will welcome and use in his next speech," he said.
On Nirmala Sitharaman's budget speech, Chidambaram sarcastically said, “The thing I liked about the finance minister's budget speech is that it was the shortest speech of 90 minutes. "I am a member of the 'Tukde Tukde' gang, which means ‘disruption'. I am worried because in this parliament, a question was asked ‘who are members of Tukde Tukde gang’ and the honourable minister said ‘we have no data available on Tukde Tukde gang'," he said.
“I have some data and want the House to look into it. Last year, the finance minister projected the 2021-22 fiscal deficit as 6.8 per cent. I had cautioned them and said it will not be contained at 6.8 per cent and said we would do better than it," he said, adding "they have done better than 6.8 per cent and they have done 6.9 per cent". On the government's plan to raise Rs 6 lakh crore through National Monetisation Pipeline through selling old infrastructure, he said one year has passed and there is no word on that.
"Railways said 151 passenger trains on 109 routes would be bid out to private sector,” he said, adding it was responded with “zero bids". "Why do you make these announcements which you do not have capacity to execute?" he asked.