UP budget 'irrelevant, hopeless': Oppn

Opposition parties today dubbed as "irrelevant and hopeless" the 2013-14 Uttar Pradesh budget presented by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly and senior BSP leader Swami Prasad Maurya termed the budget as irrelevant and questioned the logic behind bringing the budget when a major portion of that presented last year remained unspent. "The government has brought the new budget for the next fiscal (2013-14) only for filling its own pockets," Maurya alleged. In a similar vein, state BJP chief Laxmikant Bajpai said government needs to tell the people the need for bringing another budget when last year's budget has not yet been exhausted. Referring to various provisions made for minorities, he termed the budget as communal in which proper provisions have not been made for agriculture production and industrial development. Citing figures, he said though Samajwadi Party is supporting the UPA government at the Centre, the state has got only Rs 17,345 crore of the Rs 35,982 crore Centre's share. Congress spokesman Rajiv Bakshi condemned the budget as anti-people and hopeless for farmers, entrepreneurs and youth. He said the amount earmarked for backward Purvanchal and Bundelkhand region was inadequate. To the allegation that UP has not got Centre's share, he said it was because the state has failed to give utilisation certificate and so the blame lies with the state. Rashtriya Lok Dal state unit chief Munna Singh Chauhan termed the budget as a bundle of lies, while state secretary of CPI Girish said the aim of the entire budget is to manage social equations with an eye on the coming Lok Sabha polls.