IEP Chandigarh February 1
Former Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda today visited India women’s cricket team captain Shefali Verma’s house to congratulate her on winning the Under-19 Women’s World Cup.
He extended hearty wishes to the family and said Haryana’s daughter has brought laurels not only to the state but to the entire country. Along with this, he also congratulated the other player of the team, Sonia. Hooda demanded the government to appoint both the players to high posts like DSP under the sports policy implemented during the Congress tenure.
Hooda then addressed a press conference on the Union budget and said the budget is anti-poor, farmers, labourers, small traders and farmers, because instead of giving any new relief to them in the budget, the budget of announced welfare schemes has been cut. He said Haryana remained empty handed in the budget as no special plan was announced for the state.
Hooda said the people of the country and the state are struggling with problems like inflation and unemployment, but there was no provision in the budget to provide relief to people. “Farmers are agitating for MSP and employees are agitating for old pension scheme. The budget is silent even on their demands. During the Corona period, every class had to face heavy losses, but no provision has been made in this budget for its compensation,” he said.
Citing figures, the Leader of the Opposition said fertilizer subsidy was reduced from Rs 2.25 to Rs 1.75 lakh crore in this budget. “Urea subsidy was 1,54,098 crore in last year’s revised budget, this time it was reduced to 1,31,100 crore. Similarly, food subsidy was reduced from 2.87 to 1.97 lakh crore. It has also been reduced from 2.43 lakh crore to 2.38 lakh crore, making a huge cut in the budget of rural development,” he said.
Similarly, the budget of MNREGA has also been reduced from 89,400 crores to 60,000 crores. 12,954 crore was announced in the last budget for Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana, which has come down to 10,787 this time. Rs 68,000 crore was announced in the last budget for the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, this time it has been reduced to 60,000 crore. Rs 15,500 crore was announced for the crop insurance scheme in the last budget, this time it has been reduced to Rs 13,625 crore. The budget makes less than 1 percent provision of total GDP in education and health. These two sectors should have been given the highest priority,” he said.
