Dharmendra Jore dharmendra. jore@ mid- day. com CHIEF Minister Uddhav Thackeray and some leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi ( MVS) have come down heavily on Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman for presenting a budget, that they said had nothing for farmers, youth, common people, Mumbai and Maharashtra.
The CM, in a statement, even said that Budget 2020 was u201c a piece of fiction that offered only dreamsu201d. He took a swipe at the Narendra Modi- led government for u201c raising funds by disinvesting government institutes when there was an urgent need of raising revenue through other meansu201d. Thackeray further said that there was no clarity in the much- touted 16- point agriculture growth programme. u201c The budget lacks commitment to make us a five- trillion dollar economy within next two- three years. The disinvestment of IDBI and LIC and privatisation of railways show the poor economic state of affairs.u201d The CM added that making government bonds available to the foreign nationals u201c was a cause of great worryu201d. u201c The fact is that the GST regime has brought more trouble to the MSMEs. High inflation has affected our purchase power.
There are no jobs. The government should have encouraged this dying sector, but it has failed miserably,u201d the CM stated.
u2018 Maharashtra ignoredu2019 Thackeray said the budget has meted out injustice to Mumbai and Maharashtra. u201c There is nothing for Mumbaiu2019s infra projects such as the Metro rail.
The cityu2019s lifelineu2014 the suburban rail networku2014 doesnu2019t find a mention in the budget.
It says nothing more than the old things like Bullet train and Mumbai- Delhi expressway,u201d he said, adding why no place in Maharashtra was included in the u2018 iconic siteu2019 redevelopment project.
u201c The culturally- rich Maharashtra has been discriminated against. Gujaratu2019s GIFT City ( financial centre) got a boost, but Mumbai has nothing to cheer about,u201d he said.
Revenue minister and state Congress president Balasaheb Thorat, too, said the budget had nothing for Mumbai and Maharashtra.
u201c Mumbai and Maharashtra contribute maximum tax revenue and yet it has nothing to celebrate about,u201d he Thorat.
u2018 A misleading statementu2019 Former CM Prithviraj Chavan said that he wanted to know how the Modi government would double agriculture income in the next two years when the u201c national and statesu2019 agro output was dismal, and in some cases, in negativeu201d. u201c Considering a poor national growth rate of agriculture and how bad states likes Maharashtra are doing in the agrarian field, the announcement becomes nothing but a misleading statement,u201d Chavan said.
But, former finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said the countryu2019s economy has u201c advanced by almost 1 trillion dollar in the last five yearsu201d. u201c In 2013- 14, we were a 1.85 trillion dollar economy, but the Modi government made it about 3 trillion dollar. In fact, the then FM Chidambaram had also dreamt of a 5 trillion dollar economy. We are trying to achieve a dream that all of us want,u201d he said, adding that the allocation for the farming sector which was about R 7 lakh crore six years ago has now been doubled.
u2018 Modern, progressiveu2019 Meanwhile, former chief minister and opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis said the budget was u201c modern and progressive and would help create new India, with a great emphasis on farming sectoru201d. u201c It attempts to give a longterm remedy for agrarian crisis.
It gives impetus to states which would accept progressive laws for the welfare of the farming sector.
u201c The allocation of R 2.83 lakh crore for irrigation and rural development would open up growth of our villages,u201d he said.
Fadnavis said the budget was all- inclusive with big allocation for SCs, STs, women, nutrition and housing for all.
u201c The reforms for individual income tax payees are a great relief. The healthcare and medical education at district headquarters, internship in civic bodies for engineers and national recruitment agencies will create new job opportunities for all,u201d he added.
The culturally- rich Maharashtra has been discriminated against.
Gujaratu2019s GIFT City got a boost, but Mumbai has nothing to cheer about Uddhav Thackeray The budget attempts to give a long- term remedy for the agrarian crisis. It gives an impetus to states which will accept progressive laws for the farming sector Devendra Fadnavis $ 3tn What the govt claims the economy is worth Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and former CM Devendra Fadnavis lock horns over Budget 2020 announced on Saturday. FILE PHOTO
