Union Budget colourless, directionless exercise: Joshi

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

Kolkata, Mar 2 (UNI) Describing the Union Budget as a ''colourless and directionless exercise'', senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi today said the it held no hope for any section of society.

Though Finance Minister P Chidambaram dubbed the budget as farmer-friendly, in reality, it had hardly anything to offer to the marginalised farmers, the former union minister said while analysing the budget.

He said the deduction of customs duty on dextose monohydrate from 30 per cent to 20 per cent would only benefit big farmers. Moreover, machineries like sprinklers were only used by farmers holding big plots of land.

Mr Joshi pointed out that the budget did not offer any tax benefit or tax exemption to Indian firms setting up cold storages.

On the problem of inflation haunting the UPA government before the budget, Mr Joshi said it was a matter of debate whether high GDP growth had triggered inflation or high inflation was showing high GDP.

He also said the Finance Minister should have taken measures to control the price of land instead of controlling the prices of cement and steel.

Mr Joshi criticised Mr Chidambaram for following the ''Western pattern'' of budget and added that the UPA government was leaving the major responsibility of providing employment to private players.

UNI

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