Jammu: CPI (M) senior leader and MLA Kulgam Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami has said the budget 2016-2017 presented by the union government today reflects rosy figures and is devoid of any relief for the common man.
The budget is a routine exercise of rhetoric. It does not suggest anything substantial to provide relief to the common people. It has nothing significant to offer and instead has furthered desperation and disappointment for financially vulnerable sections of the society, Tarigami observed.
The CPI (M) leader said that as far as Jammu and Kashmir is concerned, the union budget has abysmally failed to provide any succor to the people of the state. Despite the common demand of almost all the political parties for adequate funding for the relief and rehabilitation measures besides inclusion of twin cities of Jammu and Srinagar under Smart cities programme, transferring of Dulhasti and Uri Hydro power projects as suggested by Ranagarajan Committee no mention has been made in the budget, which is very unfortunate, he added.
Tarigami said the horticulture industry is in dire crisis and no mention has been made anywhere in the latest union budget. The people in J&K have been going through serious hardships and sufferings due to the damages of infrastructure due to floods. But this budget has totally ignored all these concerns. Government of India has failed to provide any respite and relief to the suffering people of the Jammu and Kashmir.
The CPI (M) leader remarked that no effective measures have been suggested to address the burning issue of price rise instead it has camouflaged and distorted the actual figures of inflation. While as the daily experience of the people is otherwise.
No panacea has been projected/advocated to address the increasing unemployment, mere opening of Skill Development Centres is no panacea to the alarming unemployment problems, what about hundreds of thousands of unemployed skilled youth, he said.
Tarigami said that while banning of recruitment in the central government sector continues, there is a proposal in reduction of corporate taxes; there is no enhancement in the income tax slabs, thus, adversely affecting lakhs of Central, State and PSU employees. On the other hand savings under PF are being taxed. The allocation on agriculture and farmer welfare is too meager to address their problems. It amounts to just eyewash. There is a total neglect of unorganized workers and scheme workers in the budget. Trade unions have demanded constitution of National Fund for the unorganized workers, regularization of lakhs of Anganwari centres, MDM workers and other vulnerable sections of schemes workers. But no mention has been made in the buget regarding these demands.
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