New Delhi. Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram termed the Union Budget as disappointing and said on Monday that no concrete steps have been taken regarding inflation and unemployment and no relief has been given to the common people. He also said that a two-type tax system is not a good idea and cannot be accepted. Chidambaram told reporters, “The first budget of this government is very disappointing.” He claimed that the government has not taken any effective steps on the unemployment front.
He said, “The claim that the schemes announced by the Finance Minister will benefit 2.90 crore people is highly exaggerated.
Chidambaram said, “Inflation is the second big challenge. WPI (wholesale price index) inflation is 3.4 percent, CPI (consumer price index) inflation is 5.1 percent and food inflation is 9.4 percent.” He claimed, “The Economic Survey dismissed the issue of inflation in a few sentences. The Finance Minister dismissed it in 10 words in paragraph three of his speech. We condemn the careless attitude of the government.” The former Finance Minister said that the budget speech nowhere gives confidence that the government will deal seriously with the issue of inflation.
He said, “The issue related to education is NEET and the scandal-ridden National Testing Agency. Many states have demanded that NEET should be abolished and states should be free to adopt their own methods of selecting candidates for various courses in medical education. There has been no response to this.” He claimed that tax paying citizens in the 0-20 percent tax bracket have been given some relief, but the poor have not been given any relief.
He said, “Farmers are mobilizing for protest. One of their demands is that the MSP (minimum support price) declared for agricultural produce should be backed by a legal guarantee. (This demand) has not been answered.” Chidambaram said, “Many political parties, including the Congress, have demanded that the wrong and discriminatory “Agneepath” scheme should be abolished immediately and the earlier methods of recruitment in the armed forces should be resumed. There is no answer to this either.” He said that the movement to cancel the Agneepath scheme will continue.
Chidambaram said that the two-tax system is a poor idea and is unacceptable. Earlier, former Finance Minister Chidambaram had posted on ‘X’, “I am happy to know that the Honorable Finance Minister has read the Congress’ Lok Sabha 2024 manifesto after the election results. I am also happy that he has virtually adopted the Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) mentioned on page 30 of the Congress manifesto.” He said, “I am also happy that he has introduced the apprenticeship scheme along with the allowance for every trainee mentioned on page 11 of the Congress manifesto. I wish the Finance Minister had copied some other ideas in the Congress manifesto.