Opposition calls Budget jugglery of figures

New Delhi, Mar 7: The BJP today (Mar 7, 2006) termed as directionless the General Budget, saying it has been prepared with an eye on the coming Assembly elections in five States.

''The Budget is a jugglery of figures. It could not give policy direction for a sustainable growth,'' Mrs Sumitra Mahajan(BJP) said initiating discussion on the General Budget for 2006-07.

Mrs Mahajan accused the Finance Minister of preparing his Budget with a narrow-minded approach to benefit the election-bound states. It was full of rhetoric and populism, she said.

She said along with the promotion of the Urdu language, the Finance Minister should also have thought of promoting Indian languages by making allocations. Very little allocation had been made to solve the problems of malnutrition among children. The Budget was silent on what would happen when the World Bank aid for reducing malnutrition would stop, she asked.

Mrs Mahajan said the farmers had been left to fend for themselves giving them only bank credit and reducing the rate of interest. What was needed was to give them a new technology and educate them on the technique of better farming, besides giving them export quality seeds.

Criticising the provisions made for the National Rural Employment Scheme and the Bharat Niman, she said these would barely touch the fringe of the problems as the allocations were inadequate. She termed the rural job scheme a hoax.

Mr K S Rao (Cong) rebutted point by point the arguments advanced by Mrs Mahajan against the Budget. He termed the Budget good one as there was no increase in the taxes.

He said while the NDA government talked of closing down PSUs, the UPA Government was seeking to revive them.

He charged the BJP with thinking only of urban areas while the UPA Government was focusing on development of rural areas. It was only the UPA Government which had given a package to farmers, not the BJP. While the BJP only thought of the organised sector, the UPA Government was for the welfare of the unorganised sector.

UNI