Political parties slam Union Budget, express disappointment

Warangal: Barring the BJP, all the other political parties expressed disappointment over the Union Budget 2023 presented on Wednesday by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. A cross section of people in the erstwhile Warangal district expressed disappointment over the Union Budget as it has nothing for Telangana.

Callinb the Union Budget an anti-people budget, Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao, said, "This is an anti-people budget as it has nothing to offer for the distressed sections especially the working class. The Centre is conspiring to dilute the MGNREGA in a phased manner while giving priority to the corporate sector." He said, it's also disappointing that the Centre which allocated Rs 19,000 crore for the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana retained the same in the budget. The budget offers nothing for Telangana. The Centre is hampering the development of the State by not making any allocations to it, he added.

Hanumakonda DCC president Naini Rajender Reddy, said the BJP-led Central government ignored the assurances given to Telangana under the AP Reorganisation Act 2014. It's disappointing that there was no mention of – rail coach factory in Kazipet, a steel plant in Bayyaram and a tribal university in Mulugu. The Centre which showed empty hand to Telangana in the allocation of medical colleges last year has come up with the proposal of establishing new nursing colleges in core locations with the existing 157 medical colleges. He said, the Centre which announced a package of Rs 5,300 crore for poll-bound Karnataka has nothing to offer to Telangana. It's regrettable that the government has slashed the budgetary allocation for the rural job guarantee scheme, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) by 30 per cent, he added.

CPI State secretary Takkalapally Srinivas Rao accused the BJP-led Centre of betraying the people and said the Centre once again betrayed the people in Telangana by not allocating any funds to carry out bifurcation promises. The Centre has always taken a biased approach towards Telangana and it is reflected in the Union Budget. The Centre was more interested in States which are ruled by them and poll-bound States. The Budget didn't give any emphasis on agriculture. The corporate houses were to be benefited in the name of the digitisation programme. All in all, the budget is nothing but a jugglery of numbers.

On the other hand, Thirunahari Seshu, a faculty of Economics at Kakatiya University, called it an 'election' Budget. He said, "Effectively, it's more of an 'election' budget. The last full budget by the Narendra Modi government before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections could have given impetus on creating jobs especially in the backdrop of recession. The country needs a more aggressive approach in dealing with unemployment. Even though the budget has some positives such as Awas Yojana and income tax etc., it failed to take measures to control the inflation. It's also disappointing that Telangana drew a damp squib in this budget.