Unimaginative: JP

No lessons learnt from past, flays Lok Satta leader Hyderabad: Lok Satta national president Jayaprakash Narayan on Monday said that the State Budget for 2013-14 was totally unimaginative. It made no attempt at enhancing the income of people and help them come out of poverty. In addition, the so-called agricultural budget similarly failed to ensure remunerative prices to farmers and improving their livelihood. Narayan flayed the government for not learning lessons from the past. In fact, the budget indicates that State is headed for more troubled times going by the debt ballooning from Rs 82000 crore six years ago to Rs.180000 crore now, the interest burden almost doubling to Rs 15000 crore a year, he said. "Although the Government's entire focus is on 17 per cent of funds earmarked for welfare schemes, it has not shown any imagination in ensuring their proper utilization. For instance, entitlements to welfare schemes could have been linked to beneficiaries sending their children to school. No attempt has been made to improve the appallingly low standards of school education in the State," the Lok Satta leader said. There is no wonder that the State continues to face perpetual power shortage as the budget allocates a mere Rs 600 crore for capital works since 90 per cent of the Rs 8000 crore to the sector goes towards meeting revenue deficit of power utilities. He pointed out that the money allocated to agriculture and allied sectors was Rs 1000 crore less than that in the previous year. A Yet, the Government had the temerity to claim a higher allocation of 24 per cent by taking credit for an increase in bank loans to farmers. The government squandered the opportunity of ensuring better outcomes in every sector, he added.