Minister slams Centre, calls Budget ‘weakest’ one

Bengaluru: Home Minister G Parameshwara on Monday termed the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as the “weakest” one among the nine budgets tabled by her so far.

He also accused the Centre of failing to address the expectations of the common people, particularly Karnataka. Speaking to reporters here, Parameshwara said that the people had placed several hopes on the Budget for the country’s development, but all of them had been belied. He alleged that the Union government had completely ignored critical sectors such as agriculture, industry, education and basic infrastructure. “This is the weakest budget among the nine budgets presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman,” Parameshwara said. Earlier budgets had given importance to agriculture and the industrial sector and had introduced several programmes aimed at poverty alleviation, he added.

Recalling landmark welfare initiatives of previous Congress governments, the home minister said former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had introduced the National Employment Guarantee Scheme, a programme that had no parallel anywhere in the world. “All that has been thrown to the winds, and the entire country has been disappointed,” he remarked.