The annual Budget presented by Chief Minister Raman Singh on Saturday is directionless and it is just like the wide ball in a cricket match, the Opposition Congress said.
Reacting to sRs 54,710 crore tax free budget presented by the Chief Minister in the State Assembly for the fiscal 2014-15, State Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel and leader of the Opposition TS Singhdeo said the BJP Government failed to meet the aspiration of the farmers and labourers. Terming the Budget as anti-farmers and anti-poor, both the leaders said it did not reflect the budget of a State which is home to abundant forest and mineral resources.
“like the previous budgets, the Chief Minister has once again left the youths, housewives and unemployed people in a state of despair,’’ the Congress leaders said. “The Budget finds no provision of generating employments. Similarly, the Chief Minister has made no provision to increase the minimum support price of paddy in the State to Rs 2,100 per quintal,’’ they further said, alleging, “The Chief Minister has proposed to allocate only Rs 2,400 crore for payment of bonus to the farmers where as the outstanding stands at Rs 3,800 crore,’’.
Singhdeo said that the State Government had a good chance before the lok Sabha elections for giving more to the people of Chhattisgarh. “The Samajik Suraksha Pension could have been increased up to Rs 600 from Rs 500, the insurance amount of Rs 30,000 under health schemes could have been raised up to Rs 1.50 lakh, the 150 day limit under employment guarantee could also have been increased. In education sector opening of ITI and colleges in every development block was also found missing.”
The Congress hit out at the BJP Government saying that at one hand the BJP Government has been imposing four per cent value added tax on the aviation fuel purchases; on other hand it has imposed 25 per cent VAT on petrol and diesel. “It is the general people who use motorcycle as their mode of transport and the diesel is used by farmers,’’ the Congress duo stated.
The Congress said that it had hoped to see a VAT reduction on petroleum products but the way it kept it unchanged shocked everybody. The Congress further said that the women and housewives were under impression that the Government will provide them relief by providing a subsidy of Rs 200 from the State fund on cooking gas cylinders but that was not done despite the fact that the Chief Minister had promised it in the past. The leaders also slammed the Government for high electricity tariff and not providing any relief to the consumers including the farmers.