The Rs 54,710 crore budget presented by Chief Minister Raman Singh in the Assembly evoked mixed response from a cross section of people here on Saturday.
The Pioneer reached out to professionals, students and housewives to know their views on the Budget. Dr Deepak Jain said, “I wish the Budget could have had more allocation for Health and Education sector because these two sectors are the basic requirements for a strong and progressive State”. “It is good that our State has already provided Food Security to a large section of the populace in Chhattisgarh, but at the same time we should take a leaf from States like Tamil Nadu where tendency to work had remained even if cheaper rice had been provided to them”, he added.
Anil Nachrani, president Chhattisgarh Sponge Iron Manufacturers Association welcomed the Budget. He said, “The Budget has presented a view that this State is committed to reviving small units. The lowering of Central Sales Tax would help us in running our units. lowering of entry tax on raw materials will reduce the cost of production. After these steps I think the present production capacity of small sponge iron and steel units that is lingering between 40 to 50 per cent could be raised to 80 per cent”.
Supporting the Budget, Amitabh Bhattacharya, Health Safety & Environment Engineer, said, “State Budget majorly focussed on BPl families and farmers which will help them uplift their standard of living. It has also taken care of Education and Gender Balance schemes which is a welcoming move. Chhattisgarh needs to focus on disaster management plans with a focus on Industrial safety. All in all , it seems to be one of the old BJP’s slogan — Feels Good.”
Nikhil Dubey, a student, said, “The provisions for interest-free loan for Tribal students is welcome. It reflects the view of State Government to encourage youth trapped in Naxal hinterlands. However, if the Government would have taken some steps to increase seats in various top colleges then it would have been much better”. Ishita Mishra, a housewife and also an entrepreneur, was not impressed by the Budget. She said, “Budget seemed an average one from the entrepreneurs’ point of view. The Government seemed pleased on the iron and steel sector but other business sector remained unnoticed. Extending food security to economically weaker sections of State was a good decision. However, some attention should have been paid to Information and Technology, garments, advertisement and similar sectors”.
According to Daneshwari Sambhakar, a research scholar, the introduction of schemes like ‘Noni Suraksha Yojna’ would help in reducing the gender inequality and female foeticide. The Government has moved a step towards women empowerment by provisioning free education to girls till graduation in government colleges.