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Informist, Tuesday, Jul 23, 2024

NEW DELHI – The Congress party today said the full Budget for 2024-25 (Apr-Mar) fails to address the biggest challenges the country faces – unemployment and inflation.

The government's response on the employment crisis is too "little" and it will have only "little impact on the grave unemployment", Senior Congress leader and former finance minister P. Chidambaram said.

"The claim that the schemes announced by the finance minister will benefit 290 lakh (29 mln) persons is highly exaggerated," Chidambaram said.

Chidambaram said inflation is another major challenge that the country faces and criticised the government over its "casual attitude" towards it.

"The Economic Survey dismissed the issue of inflation in a few short sentences. The finance minister dismissed it in ten words in para 3 of her speech. We deplore the casual attitude of the government. And nothing in the Budget speech gives us the confidence that the government will seriously tackle the issue of inflation," he said.

The party alleged that the condition of education was in poor quality and nearly one-half of the children are unable to read or write a simple text in any language.

The party also highlighted the sorry state of public healthcare in the country. "Public healthcare is growing quantitatively but not in quality. Out of pocket expenditure is still about 47% of total health expenditure. There is a grave shortage of doctors, nurses, medical technicians, and diagnostic equipment and machines," Chidambaram said.

Chidambaram took a jibe at the Narendra Modi government for "adopting Congress party's manifesto" on employment-linked incentive scheme, the apprenticeship scheme with an allowance to the apprentice, and on the abolition of the Angel Tax. "I wish she (Finance Minister Sitharaman) had adopted many more ideas from the Congress' manifesto," Chidambaram said.

The All India Trinamool Congress termed the Budget a "political vision with no mission". West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the central government has presented the Budget keeping in mind their vulnerable political state in order to please their allies without considering the needs of the people of the country.

Samajwadi President Akhilesh Yadav also said that the Budget doesn't address the issues of "unemployment, inflation, farmers, women and youth."

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) said that the Budget should have focussed on expanding economic activities. "The Budget proposals are contractionary and regressive. This will only impose further miseries on the people and depress. The levels of investment and employment generation," the party said.  End

Reported by Kuldeep Singh

Edited by Ashish Shirke

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