Jaipur: Congress National General Secretary and former Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot on Sunday described the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament as directionless, misleading, and deeply disappointing for the common man.
Pilot pointed out that over the last three years, the government has saved nearly Rs 1 lakh crore annually in capital expenditure. He said the Centre’s attempt to increase allocations only on paper to gain applause cannot be hidden from the public.
He further stated that the government has failed to spend approximately Rs 33,000 crore on direct welfare schemes such as the Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana, Prime Minister Awas Yojana – Gramin, and skill development programmes, indicating a lack of priority for rural poor.
Additionally, due to the Centre not transferring funds to states, nearly Rs 50,000 crore remained unutilised under the Jal Jeevan Mission.
Pilot also criticised the Centre for maintaining the states’ share in central taxes at 41 percent but failing to address the issue of states bearing almost 40 percent of the expenditure under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). He demanded that the states’ share be increased to 45 percent.
Describing the budget as very disappointing for Rajasthan, Pilot highlighted that there was no allocation for the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project in the Ministry of Water Resources’ budget. He also noted that Rajasthan was excluded from all seven proposed high-speed rail corridors and that there was no provision for already approved railway lines, reflecting the BJP government’s lack of sympathy towards the state’s people.
He added that the budget offers no relief to farmers and urged the BJP-led state government to release a white paper on unemployment.
Pilot warned that this budget would increase unemployment and push educated and highly educated youth into low-level jobs.
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