PM hails Budget as pro-farmer

The Cabinet colleagues of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley have hailed the Union Budget 2016-16, which was presented in the Lok Sabha on Monday. While Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the Prime Minister has passed his ‘test' with “flying colours”, BJP patriarch LK Advani was all praise for the Budget as he termed it “one of the best so far” and said it shows that the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister have adopted an approach that promises to make India stronger and more prosperous.

Terming the Budget as ‘excellent’, Singh said it outlines the priorities of the NDA government and the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Hailing the Budget, the PM said it is pro-village, pro-poor and pro-farmers, with focus on bringing out qualitative change in the country and alleviate poverty through a slew of time-bound programmes. He said special attention was paid to agriculture, village infrastructure, healthcare, employment generation and Dalit entrepreneurship. “This Budget is pro-village, pro-poor, pro-farmer. The main focus is to bringing about qualitative change in the country,” Modi said, adding that “there will be a big change in the lives of common people.”

He said the Budget has laid a roadmap to alleviate poverty in a time-bound manner. “Several steps have been taken for farmers. The most important is Pradhan Mantri Krishi Yojana,” he said.

Noting that electricity and roads are crucial for villages, he said by 2019, all villages of the country will be connected by roads, while all of them will be electrified by 2018. For MNREGA, there has been the biggest allocation, he said. This budget has provisions for realising the dreams of the common man, the Prime Minister said.

Modi said the budget lays thrust on national security by having provisions for boosting defence manufacturing and providing the armed forces with modern and potent equipment. The government was also giving priority to primary education. “A qualitative transformation of the education sector is what we are giving priority to,” he said.

MoS for Environment, Forests and Climate Prakash Javadekar described the Budget as transformative. “The budget is pro-poor, pro-farmer and pro-development. In this Budget, adequate attention has been paid to infrastructure, rural and social development,” he said.

MoS (Independent Charge) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy termed it a phenomenal Budget, which has been drafted taking into account the needs of farmers, labourers and youth and poor. BJP president Amit Shah has hailed the Budget as pro-poor, which is focused more on farmers, poor and rural areas. “The government has done a lot for the infrastructure development. Higher allocation to MNREGA and MUDRA schemes show the government’s intent for the country,” he said.

Shah asserted that this is the first budget since Independence that has focused so much on “villages, farmers and poor”. He cited the allocation of Rs 2.7 lakh crore to local bodies, decision to electrify all villages by May 01, 2018 and allocation of over Rs 19,000 crore for Pradham Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna to emphasise the focus on rural India and called it historic. Shah also referred to budgeted expenditure of over Rs 2.21 lakh crore on national and state highways. “I hail the PM and the Finance Minister on the behalf of BJP,” he said.

Welcomed the budget, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said enhanced thrust on social sectors, skill building and job creation will help a great deal in fulfilling the aspirations of people.