Union Budget is 'innovative and inspiring': Venkaiah Naidu

Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday described Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's budget as 'innovative and inspiring', saying its impact on the nation will be quite positive.

"It will accelerate the growth and at the end will bring all round development .Very innovative, very inspiring. People will be very happy not only about the budget proposals but also the reforms, taxation and also the steps that are going to be taken to end the black money and taking care of the vulnerable sections, upliftment of the poorest to the poor. These are the highlights of this budget," Naidu said.

"I am really very happy about the budget. Every section of the country will be very happy because empowering India is possible only by empowering states which has been done through acceptance of the Finance Commissions recommendations. Also, taking care of the vulnerable section that is the need of the hour. So, growth and welfare are the two milestones of this budget," he added.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said the budget has nothing to offer to the common man and the poor of the country.

"This is the budget that appears to have fine words but it's far from clear what kind of devil is going to be there in the implementation. For example, we hear a lot about infrastructure and investment, but the sad part is that in our country something like 13 percent of our GDP is struck in incomplete infrastructure projects," said Tharoor.

"So, unless we seek concrete implementation, we cannot judge whether this budget is going to deliver results. It seems to be a corporate friendly budget. There was no mention of the poor or the Aam Aadmi. As far as we are concerned, ultimately what we need to see is how we change the lives of the people for the better. Just announcing a new institution is not going to give you a good campus, attract the faculty to teach, and produce good educational outcome," he added.

Minister of State in Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh on his part said it is a positive, constructive and a practical budget.