Budget shows Modi govt has learnt to listen to people: TRS

The 2016-17 Budget shows that the Narendra Modi government has "finally learned to listen" to the people of India after tasting electoral defeats, TRS today said even as it accused the Centre of doing a "U-turn" on issues like MGNREGA.
"At his third attempt, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley finally claims to have a budget which addresses the reality of India and takes into account unfashionable things such as the ongoing agrarian crisis.
"Budget 2016-17 thus shows that after a series of electoral defeats, the Modi government has finally learned to listen to the people of India," Deputy Leader of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in Lok Sabha, B Vinod Kumar, said in a statement.

Kumar recalled that while in its first budget, the NDA government had "derided the MGNREGA as a testament to the Congress's failure... It has now done a complete U-turn and has made the highest ever allocation to it at Rs 38,500 crore".
"Similarly, the government has ramped up expenditure in social sectors such as health, education, agriculture and rural development. This is reflected in the nine pillars on which the budget is based," Kumar said as he lauded some of the initiatives announced in the budget.
"In a democracy, it is the people that are ultimately all- powerful. By defeating the BJP in a series of elections that have taken place since May 2014, they have made their mood very clear.

"This is what forced the Modi government to take notice of their persistent demands and is the real reason why there is a focus on agriculture and rural development," he said.

Kumar said the Modi government could have also considered introducing a tax on the inheritance of property.
Another welcome decision is to appoint a committee to review the FRBM Act. This is of special importance to the government of Telangana. Being a revenue surplus state it is seeking an increased borrowing limit up to 3.5 per cent of state GDP. This requires exemptions under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, he said.

"In this context, it is a welcome decision to review the working of the Act and the committee should take a decision on this at the earliest," he said.