Opposition members slam Budget in LS, RS

Chidambaram said that the issue of unemployment is taken seriously, stating that his party, the Congress, will wait for the success of the proposed ELI scheme…reports Asian Lite News

Both Houses of Parliament took up discussion on the Union Budget 2024-2025 on Wednesday with opposition parties accusing it of being “discriminatory” with most states and lacking vision and BJP members highlighting the achievements of the Modi government and provisions of various sectors in the budget.

The discussion was initiated by former Finance Minister P Chidambaram in Rajya Sabha and Congress MP Kumari Selja in the Lok Sabha.

Chidambaram raised four major challenges facing the economy.

He said the most significant challenge is unemployment and data released by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) indicates that the unemployment rate for June 2024 is 9.2 per cent.

Chidambaram emphasised that the primary challenge for the economy is creating sufficient employment opportunities. He pointed out that the budget’s announcement of the employment-linked incentives (ELI) scheme suggests that the Production Linked Incentives (PLI) scheme is not generating the expected employment. He urged the finance minister to disclose the number of jobs created by the PLI scheme.

Chidambaram expressed scepticism about the ELI scheme’s effectiveness. “It is an inspiring idea, but it does not inspire confidence that you will be able to place 290 lakh people under the ELI scheme as described,” he stated.

He also questioned the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) report claiming that over 4.67 crore jobs were created in FY24. Citing reports of over 50 lakh applicants for 60,000 police posts in UP, he challenged the assertion that there is no job crisis in the country.

Chidambaram said that the issue of unemployment is taken seriously, stating that his party, the Congress, will wait for the success of the proposed ELI scheme.

Radha Mohan Das Aggarwal of BJP highlighted the achievements made by the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last ten years. He said Jan Dhan Yojana has provided banking services to crores of people in the country.

In her remarks, Kumari Selja said the problem of unemployment is increasing in the country.

Biplab Kumar Deb of BJP said the Economic Survey has estimated a real GDP growth of 6.5 percent to 7 percent in 2024-25. He highlighted the provisions in the budget for various sections including for farmers and education sector in the Budget.

In her remarks, Supriya Sule of NCP(SP) urged the government to hold early assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee launched a strong attack on the Modi government, alleging that the Union Budget lacks clarity or vision, it has been rolled out to satisfy the coalition partners of the BJP and that it “was planned by two individuals to keep another two in good faith”.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla objected to some remarks of Banerjee. Banerjee claimed that the three farm laws, which were later repealed, were not discussed. The Speaker said there was discussion in House and asserted that the Chair makes remarks after proper deliberation.

“When the Speaker speaks, he speaks correctly. You need to correct yourself,” he said.

In his remarks, Banerjee claimed that BJP-led NDA government is “on borrowed time” and “it is creaky, shaky coalition”.

“It’s a budget without any clarity or vision which has been rolled out to satisfy the coalition partners of the BJP….this Budget was planned by two individuals to keep another two in good faith,” he alleged.

Referring to the results of Lok Sabha polls in which the BJP did not get majority on its own, Banerjee alleged that it is “rejection of authoritativeness”.

“It’s a clear rejection of authoritativeness. It’s a rejection of arrogance, divisive politics and empty promises. The message from the electorate of this country is loud and clear,” he said.

Referring to the acronyms used by the BJP-led government for its various schemes, Banerjee said he will reply to to the government “in a language they understand”.

“Amidst the all failures in the last decade, the PM and his government achieved something truly remarkable. A world class collection of abbreviations. Every new initiative feels like almost a linguistic surprise. Hundred and ten names. I want to reply to this government in a language they understand,” he said.

“This is a creaky shaky coalition govt. It is so uncertain and fragile and can implode anytime. B-U-D-G-E-T B for Betrayal U for Unemployment D for Deprived G for Guarantee (Zero warranty) E for Eccentric T for Tragedy,” he added.

He accused BJP-led government of “betraying housewives, daily wage earners, farmers”.

“B for betrayal. BJP promised Ache din before coming to power In 2014. What have they done? Betrayed citizens. Betrayed housewives. Betrayed daily wage earners. Betrayed farmers. Sir price rise. 63 crore people earn less than Rs 308 a day. And 18 crore people earned Rs 180 a day. If the NDA government in the last ten years had spent even a quarter of the time it dedicated to political witch-hunting and spreading communal hatred and addressed the real issue for the interest of the people India would not be ranking 111th out of 125 countries in the world in the global hunger index. They spoke about ‘sab ka saath, sab ka vikas’ which turned into ‘jo hamare saath, ham un ke saath’,” he said. ,.

“The only thing that is growing faster than price rise and inflation is the BJP’s list of broken promises,” he added.

He alleged that ‘G’ in Budget 2024 stands for guarantee with zero warranty and went to elaborate on his definition of budget.

BJP members accused him of using unparliamentary words for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and demanded that these should be expunged.

Banerjee emphasised that the essence of coalition politics should be cooperation and collaboration and alleged that the “budget as an exercise in appeasement and compensation” ironic for a party that denounces appeasement politics.

He alleged discrimination with West Bengal in Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and release of MGNREGA funds.

He said the government had failed to keep up its promises and also criticised the its handling of rail safety.

Banerjee accused the government of weaponising central agencies to carry out politically motivated witch hunts against opposition leaders “like many of us including me”.

“Keep some patience and tighten your seatbelts; the weather is about to turn stormy,” he added.

DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran said that “time has come for the PM to take some good advice from and follow our CM MK Stalin”.

“When MK Stalin became the CM of Tamil Nadu, he said – I will work not only for the people who voted for me but also for the people who did not vote for me, it is my duty. Today, the PM is not working for the people who voted for his party but only for the parties which are supporting him,” he alleged.

Earlier in the Rajya Sabha, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman termed as “outrageous” allegation of opposition parties about discrimination between states in the Union Budget with Congress president taking “sabki thali khali, do ki thali mein pakora, jalebi” jibe at the BJP-led government over announcements of projects for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.

Speaking briefly in the Rajya Sabha, Kharge, who is Leader of Opposition in the House, alleged such budget has never been presented and it has been done to save the BJP-led government, which is dependent on support of JD-U and TDP for its survival. (ANI)

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