Budget draws mixed reactions in MP

Bhopal, Feb 28 (UNI) Lauding the Union Budget for 2007-08, Madhya Pradesh's main opposition Congress today said that it would check inflation but other opposition parties and the state's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) condemned it as a tool that would enhance the common man's woes.

''By giving an Income-Tax concession, the Finance Minister has provided relief to salaried employees,'' said state Congress General Secretary Manak Agrawal.

The BJP's Madhya Pradesh unit President Narendra Singh Tomar alleged that the Budget was an indicator of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance regime's decline and added that -- after food -- even housing had been made more expensive.

''It is also indicative of a return of the control regime.

Reduction of duty on cement will lead to deterioration in construction material and profiteering. Enhancing the tax on dividend to 15 per cent will reduce savings investment and the economy will be affected due to increase in tax on mutual funds,'' he added.

State Commerce and Industry Minister Babulal Gaur said that the proposals for halting futures trading in wheat and rice were insufficient. The spiralling price rise could be checked only if the entire futures trade -- including pulses and oilseeds -- were checked.

''The provisions will not check inflation. The price rise and farmers' suicides may be halted only if a nationwide equal-pricing policy is drafted for consumer items. The raising of the taxable income ceiling by Rs 10,000 is inadequate. The Budget turned Nelson's eye on employees' interests,'' he felt.

Senior BJP leader and former Union minister Satyanarayan Jatia said that the budget expressed scant concern for unbridled inflation. The Centre attempted to mislead the public by playing with statistics and making cement dearer would discourage construction, he added.

''The Budget is directionless, anti-labour and anti-peasant. It contains no method for controlling the price rise and encouraging agricultural production. The Budget ignored the Swaminathan Committee's recommendations and paid no attention to increasing the loan limit for cultivators and reducing interest rates,'' said the Communist Party of India-Marxist's state Secretary Bahadur Singh Dhakad.

No special provision was made for the education and health sectors. The customs duty concession would only benefit middlemen and impact on ryots' condition, he added.

''No attention was paid to employment generation and widening the scope of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme,'' said Samajwadi Party Secretary and MLA Sunilam.

UNI