Union Budget ‘opportunistic’ & ‘anti-people’, says Mamata

Kolkata: Terming the Union Budget ‘opportunistic’ and ‘anti-people’, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said it had nothing for the poor.

“This Budget is not futuristic, rather, it is an opportunistic one. There is no ray of hope in this Budget. Instead, there is only darkness. This is an anti-poor Budget. The poor will be deprived while only one class of people will benefit. This Budget will not help address the country’s unemployment issue. It has been prepared with an eye on the 2024 Lok Sabha elections,” Banerjee said while addressing a distribution programme in Birbhum on Wednesday.

She asserted that the changes in the income tax slabs will not help anyone. “We have 3.7 crore unemployed youth in India. There was not a single word about unemployment and jobs. The handful of jobs that we had has also been abolished. The Central government has sold everything. The Central government sectors have also been sold through independent investments,” she maintained.

The Chief Minister stated that the MGNREGA funds were reduced to some extent in last year’s Budget, however, this year, the same has been slashed drastically.

“Do not expect that they will employ people under the 100 days’ work scheme. They have not even released the wages of these workers. Is it not a criminal offence to withhold MGNREGA funds? As per the Constitution of India, it is obligatory to release the wages of the 100 days’ work scheme. It is not optional,” she remarked.

Banerjee lashed out at the Union Budget that has claimed a reduction in the price of cooking gas. “What is price of LPG cylinders now? You have to pay Rs 1,170 for one cylinder. They have hiked the price by Rs 70 but reduced it by a meagre Rs 4,” she said.

Refuting the Centre’s claim of creating 81 lakh Self-Help Groups (SHGs) across India, the Chief Minister said: “SHGs are created by the state and not by the Centre. When we came to power in Bengal, there were 1 lakh SHGs. Today, we have 11 lakh SHGs. The Centre has conveniently included these figures in this year’s Budget. Where is the Centre’s credit here? What has the Centre done for the SHGs, Asha workers, ICDS workers and farmers? Are they not ashamed? What have they done for the unemployed youth of our nation? What have they done to control the skyrocketing inflation in India?” Banerjee questioned.

She further slammed the Centre for reducing food subsidies in the Budget and claimed that in the coming days, the poor will be suffering the most. She reiterated that the Bengal government provides ration free of cost.

The Chief Minister, on Wednesday, inaugurated 109 projects worth Rs 533.16 crore that includes new bridges, 22 health centres and a Baul Academy in Bolpur.

She also launched Tara Bitan at Rampurhat and the Model Residency School named after Pandit Raghunath Murmu that has come up in Bolpur.

Addressing the gathering, she also stated: “I would like to announce projects worth Rs 1,000 crore for this region and will specifically talk about two bridges that have been inaugurated today. The first Setu is in Labpur over Mayurakshi River. Continued on P4v