Budget neglects welfare of citizens, says Ivan

Budget neglects welfare of citizens, says Ivan

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Feb 03, 2020:   The Union budget is anti-people and anti-farmer, MLC Ivan D’Souza has said, adding that the Central government has neglected the welfare of the citizens.

 

 

Speaking to reporters, D’Souza said, “We had expected major contributions to Karnataka in the budget. In spite of the finance minister, 25 MPs and influential
ministers representing Karnataka, the Centre has not announced anything for Karnataka. The budget has disappointed us.”

He said that the state is yet to get Rs 7,000 crore under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and GST. “The Centre has not released funds to 27 various departments since August 2019. A sum of Rs 3,500 crore is pending for the state under MGNREGS. Although the MGNREGS had the capacity to generate employment in rural areas, labourers who had taken part in various asset creation works in rural areas are waiting for wages for the past several months,” he alleged.

“For the 2020-21 year, the budget has earmarked Rs 61,500 crore under MGNREGS, which is lesser than the Rs 71,000 crore in 2019-20. The subsidy under the food security scheme has been reduced. The budget has not mentioned anything on Swaminathan Commission recommendations of fixing a price for crops,” he criticised.

The MLC said that the budget has not made any reference to constituting an arecanut board for the welfare of arecanut growers. “The demand for a separate railway sub-division for Mangaluru has not been materialised. We had expected allocation of funds for promotion of tourism in coastal district. The Centre, however, has neglected in tapping tourism potentials of the districts,” he added.

Stating that the work on Pumpwell flyover has not been completed fully, the MLC said that the flyover was inaugurated hastily in order to silence the voices of the opposition members.

“The works on the service road and the underground drainage are pending. The fact-finding committee of the Congress will once again visit flyover next week, to assess the pending works,” he added.

Courtesy:Deccan Herald