Opposition leaders said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's budget announcements to increase the “ease of living” for rural Indians were nothing but “lip service”.
“It's a classical case of too less and completely at the inappropriate time,” senior Congress leader Manish Tewari said, according to ANI. His party colleague Milind Deora tweeted, “there is no major relief for senior citizens who are forced to invest in overpriced public equities”.
The govt has attempted to pay lip service to farmers and to other marginalised sections of society but it is a classical case of too less and completely at the inappropriate time: Manish Tewari, Congress #UnionBudget2018 pic.twitter.com/npQLkF2oHn
Also Read: Union Budget 2018: Government To Raise Support Price For Kharif Crops
No major relief to senior citizens who are being forced to invest in overpriced public equities. Saving class needs protection #Budget2018
The rural economy has been in a distress as the agriculture sector faced the brunt of a sharp fall in perishable prices in the aftermath of demonetisation. Uneven rainfall meant that both kharif and rabi output have been lower than expected. Advance estimates released by the Central Statistical Office peg agriculture growth at 2.1 percent in 2017-18.
The finance minister proposed to increase the minimum support price for the kharif crop to 1.5 times the cost of production and increased the farm credit target to Rs 11 lakh crore from last year's Rs 10 lakh crore. He also promised to ease agricultural exports and strengthen e-national agricultural market network.
Also Read: India Budget 2018: Winners and Losers
Swaraj Abhiyan founder Yogendra Yadav termed the measures for farmers as a “sleight of hand” by the finance minister.
मुझे सोच कर अफसोस है कि वित्तमंत्री देश के इतने बड़े पद पर बैठ कर देश के किसानों के साथ हाथ की सफाई का काम कर गए। https://t.co/ugpCxdBvqs #KisanSeDhokha #KisanKaBudget
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, meanwhile, hailed the budget saying it will add to the “ease of living” for farmers and common citizens
I congratulate the Finance Minister for the decision regarding MSP. I am sure it will help farmers tremendously: PM @narendramodi on #NewIndiaBudget https://t.co/AyZymaQvhL
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