Budget neither populist nor pro-reform, says Dhumal

Shimla, Mar 5 (UNI) Former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister and leader of the Opposition P K Dhumal today criticised the Budget estimates for 2007-08 for neither being populist nor pro-reform and said it had failed in touching the issues concerning the common man.

''The government has made no effort for resource mobilisation in the Budget and this will spoil the state's economy,'' he said while reacting the budget estimates presented by the State Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh in the Assembly here.

Mr Dhumal said the government that had failed to deliver during its four years in office now promises to deliver in the last year by filling up 33,000 vacant functional posts in various state government departments.

The state government that promised to provide government job to one member of the family during the last assembly elections had only provided 3,3786 during its four years period in office, he said.

Terming the proposals announced by the state government for checking the rising prices of essential commodities in the state as insufficient, he said the best way to check prices was to do away with four per cent tax on food items.

The prices of food items would have fallen by four per cent by doing away with VAT, he said, adding that besides ration available through fair price shops would be not be adequate for the people of the state.

Accusing the successive state Congress Governments for increasing the state's loan debt, he said the Virbhadra Singh Government during its 1993 to 1997 tenure had taken loans at higher rate of interest from the financial institutions, resulting in huge debt liability.

He said this was due to strained relations between the then state Congress governments in the state and the Centre.

Rubbishing the state government's claim that the budget proposes to lay special emphasis on horticulture and agriculture, he said over 55 per cent posts in Horticulture and Agriculture were laying vacant for the last four years.

He said black marketing, hoarding and Congress were synonym and when ever Congress Governments have come to power the prices of essential commodities have gone up.

Observing that five per cent interim relief to the employees would not have any tangible results, he said a very similar exercise in neighbouring Punjab had failed in swaying the employees with the SAD and BJP government coming to power there.

UNI