It's a "tired man's budget": Swaraj

"It lacks dynamism and vision to overcome food insecurity and price rise"

PTI | February 27, 2010


Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj at Ficci annual meet on Saturday
Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj at Ficci annual meet on Saturday

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj on Saturday said the government has presented a "tired man's budget" which lacked dynamism and the vision to overcome food insecurity and price rise.

"This is a tired man's budget. There is no dynamism in it...it lacks vision," Swaraj said at a FICCI-organised function here.

She maintained that the allocation for increasing agricultural productivity and irrigation, among several other subjects, were too less to usher in any significant growth.

The senior BJP leader enumerated the programmes launched by the erstwhile NDA regime and alleged that the UPA had been "lethargic" in implementing them. She named the Golden Quadrilateral scheme and the interlinking of rivers as two such projects which were "slowed down" by the UPA.

Corruption, she insisted, was one reason for the delay.

On the sensitive issue of food security, Swaraj said the government had faltered as it was yet not clear about the exact number of people Below the Poverty Line who need to be covered under the Food Security Act.

"Moreover, there has been a fall of 8 per cent in the land under agriculture since last year. From 680 lakh hectares under agriculture it has come down to 626 lakh hectares, leading to a fall in production of foodgrains," she said.

The Leader of Opposition also pointed out lack of storage facilities in the government-owned FCI godowns. She also accused the Centre of providing less foodgrains to the states for disposal under the Public Distribution System.

Without proper vision and the will to implement the plans, Millennium Development Goals and Vision 2020 will not yield results, she maintained.

"We are midway for the Vision 2020 goals and need to analyse whether we are moving at the required pace. There is no scope for repentance," Swaraj said.

The Vidisha MP asserted that hunger was the biggest challenge before the country today and quoted Economic Survey figures to argue that poverty and inequality had increased in the country since the last fiscal year.

"The country needs another Green Revolution," she said.

She recalled that the BJP manifesto had identified eradication of hunger, corruption and fear as its goals if it was voted to power.

"National security, both internal and external, is a challenge. Half of the districts in the country are not under government control as the writ of either Maoists or Naxals or insurgents runs there," Swaraj said.

"Peace is a pre-requisite for development," she added.

On corruption, Swaraj said that it was a "termite" eating the whole nation.

Comments

 

Other News

When Nandini Satpathy told Biju Patnaik: ‘I’ll sit on the chair you are sitting on’

Nandini Satpathy: The Iron Lady of Orissa By Pallavi Rebbapragada Simon and Schuster India, 321 pages, Rs 765

Elections 2024: 1,351 candidates in fray for Phase 3

As many as 1,351 candidates from 12 states /UTs are contesting elections in Phase 3 of Lok Sabha Elections 2024. The number includes eight contesting candidates for the adjourned poll in 29-Betul (ST) PC of Madhya Pradesh. Additionally, one candidate from Surat PC in Gujarat has been elected unopp

2023-24 net direct tax collections exceed budget estimates by 7.40%

The provisional figures of direct tax collections for the financial year 2023-24 show that net collections are at Rs. 19.58 lakh crore, 17.70% more than Rs. 16.64 lakh crore in 2022-23. The Budget Estimates (BE) for Direct Tax revenue in the Union Budget for FY 2023-24 were fixed at Rs. 18.

‘World’s biggest festival of democracy’ begins

The much-awaited General Elections of 2024, billed as the world’s biggest festival of democracy, began on Friday with Phase 1 of polling in 102 Parliamentary Constituencies (the highest among all seven phases) in 21 States/ UTs and 92 Assembly Constituencies in the State Assembly Elections in Arunach

A sustainability warrior’s heartfelt stories of life’s fleeting moments

Fit In, Stand Out, Walk: Stories from a Pushed Away Hill By Shailini Sheth Amin Notion Press, Rs 399

What EU’s AI Act means for the world

The recent European Union (EU) policy on artificial intelligence (AI) will be a game-changer and likely to become the de-facto standard not only for the conduct of businesses but also for the way consumers think about AI tools. Governments across the globe have been grappling with the rapid rise of AI tool

Visionary Talk: Amitabh Gupta, Pune Police Commissioner with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter