While Union Budget for FY 2020-21 did not bring anything specific for the State except setting up of a Tribal Museum in Jharkhand, Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Saturday termed it a “visionless Budget meant to safeguard the interests of Capitalists and Industrialists.”
The CM said that the budget is against the aspirations of the common people of the State. He said that the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman, in her 2 hour 45 minute-long speech did not divulge the preparations of the Central Government to tackle the challenges like poverty, price rise and unemployment.
Speaking to media persons at his residence here on Saturday the Chief Minister said that the Budget has brought despair among the poor, farmers, unemployed and youth.
He said that economists are continuously evaluating the budget and after that only it can be said how much will the budget benefit the country, how much hopes of people will be fulfilled and how will it impact the economy of the country? However, he said, prima facie the budget does not look visionary.
The CM said that this budget has been brought in keeping with the interests of capitalists and industrialists. “An attempt has been made to provide relief to the big industrialists, who steal tax, through the budget. Now, they will not have to pay any interest or penalty, beyond being caught for tax evasion. At the same time, the middle class has been given a minor relief in income tax. The relaxation of income tax slabs expected by the common people has been sidelined in the budget. In this budget, there been an effort to encourage the privatisation of more and more Government properties. With this, the interest of the country will not be satisfied,” he added.
Soren said that there is a complete lack of vision in the general budget. “It shows neither direction nor vision of how the country and countrymen can be taken forward on the path of progress. It is not mentioned anywhere. The budget is completely dedicated to the capitalists and an attempt has been made to console the common people. In any case it cannot be called a balanced budget,” he said.
The Chief Minister said that he had met the Prime Minister and demanded to open Tribal University in Jharkhand. “But, in the budget presented today, there is talk of opening a Tribal Museum in Ranchi. In this way, the much awaited demand of Jharkhand was not fulfilled in this budget and the tribals here were once again cheated,” he said.