Not Possible to Double Farmers' Income by 2022: Manmohan Singh
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday, 1 February, said it is not possible to double farmers' income by 2022 until the agricultural growth is 12 percent, reported PTI.
"The government says farmers' income will be doubled by 2022. But it's not possible until the agricultural growth is 12 percent. Until we achieve that ... It is just a hollow assurance," Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad quoted Singh as saying after a meeting of opposition parties in New Delhi.
"The fiscal deficit seems to have increased," the former Prime Minister said.
Earlier in the day, Singh said it was to be seen how the government would fulfill its promises.
I do not think I can blame the Budget for being motivated by scoring points in elections, but what worries me is that the fiscal arithmetic is at fault.Manmohan Singh to NDTV
When questioned if the Budget was reform-oriented, the former PM said the word ‘reform’ has been used and abused too many times.
"I don't want to comment on it," he said, asked whether the farm crisis is a thing of the past and if not, what is the strategy to deal with it.
It is Not a People Friendly Budget: Mamata Banerjee
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the Budget was not “people-friendly.” She said, “There was nothing new at all. It's not a people friendly budget. FM said nothing about unemployment. Medium and small scale sectors are still suffering. It's a shame that he has introduced only 1 percent education cess.”
Fancy Schemes With no Matching Budgets: Rahul Gandhi
Congress President Rahul Gandhi was late to join the party of opposition leaders criticising the Budget, but eventually he did.
Rahul Gandhi wrote on Twitter that even after four years farmers are not getting a fair price, there are not enough jobs being created and NDA government’s budget does not match their schemes.
“Thankfully, only 1 more year to go,” he added.
Rahul Gandhi has constantly hit out at Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for the NDA government’s economic policies. During the Gujarat Election campaigning, he termed GST as Gabbar Singh Tax and repeatedly talked about growing unemployment.
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No Relief For an Average Taxpayer. Is The FM Serious: P Chidambaram
Former Finance Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram slammed Jaitley’s Budget and said, “Farm sector stress will continue. Medical health care is a big jumla. Nothing in the budget to boost private investment. No relief to the average tax payer. Is the Finance Minister serious?”
I did not hear any measure to boost exports, as the government has run out of ideas. Finance Minister has imposed additional custom duties to restrict imports. The Prime Minister’s speech at and the spirit of Davos has been forgotten within a few days.P Chidambaram
Left, RJD Lash Out at Union Budget 2018
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) alleged that there was "nothing" for Bihar in the union budget presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and squarely blamed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for the alleged "stepmotherly treatment" meted out by the Centre.
Meanwhile, the Left parties today called the budget a "big jumla" (rhetoric) of the government which has elections on its mind.
It shows the desperate attempts of the government to hoodwink the people in 2018, in which several state polls will take place and probably the Lok Sabha polls too.CPI leader D Raja
It is a campaign for them. We consider it as a big jumla. We think it is an election campaign as talks are going on for early elections.CPI(M) leader Mohd Salim