Yediyurappa hails budget as "speed booster"; Siddaramaiah

The 2021-22 union budget evokedresponses on expected lines in Karnataka on Monday with ChiefMinister B S Yediyurappa saying it has come as a catalyst thatcan revive the sluggish economy and opposition leadersslamming it as ''Aatma Barbad'' ''Aatma Vanchane''.

Yeddiyurappa said he strongly believed that the budgetpresented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will act as a''speed booster'' to the economy which was badly hit due toCOVID-19 pandemic.

Describing it as pro-poor and pro-middle class, he saidit was impossible to expect a better budget amidst thepandemic.

Former Karnataka chief ministers Siddaramaiah of Congressand H D Kumaraswamy of the JDS flayed the decision to imposeAgriculture Infrastructure and Development cess on petrol,diesel, fertilisers among others, saying it will increase theprice of commodities and affect everyone.

Yediyurappa, who holds the state's finance portfolio,said: ''The Union Finance Minister has announced necessarystrategies for economic revival as well as containment of thepandemic.'' It was a welcome measure that the COVID-19 vaccinationdrive has been allocated Rs 35,000 crore and the FinanceMinister assured more funds in case of necessity, the ChiefMinister said, adding strengthening of agriculture sector,skill development, infrastructure development and industrialdevelopment had been given a special emphasis in the budget.

''The budget has provided a platform to double thefarmer's income by 2022 as per the aspiration of Honble PrimeMinister Narendra Modiji,'' he said and added Rs 16.50 lakhcrore has been allocated for Agriculture and RuralDevelopment.

Strengthening and continuation of minimum support price(MSP) to farmers has been emphasised.

Funds to improve the infrastructure in APMCs,doubling the grants for micro irrigation and value additionprogramme for 22 crops will help farmers in a great way, hefurther said, adding that tax holiday for construction ofaffordable houses will benefit the middle class.

Noting that Rs 1.10 lakh crore has been allocated underNational Railway Project, Yediyurappa said, it was a welcomemove to have provided Rs 1.07 lakh crores for capitalexpenditure.

''An amount of Rs 14,778 crore has been announced forBengaluru Metro Project....58 kms of new route can beconstructed due to this provision. This is the biggest gift toKarnataka from our own Finance Minister,'' he added.

Exemption of filing Income tax returns to senior citizensabove 75 years was also an appreciable measure, he said.

''On the whole, the Union Budget 2021-22 has the potentialto be a catalyst to revive the economy and implementdevelopment programmes. I wholeheartedly welcome this budget,''he added.

Siddaramaiah in a tweet said: ''Nirmala Sitharaman hadannounced Aatma Nirbhar package to provide relief from Covidinduced fallout. As a follow up, 'Aatma Barbaad' budget hasbeen announced today,'' Siddaramaiah tweeted.

''People had to face huge hardships due to Covid. Many lostjobs, Farmers could not sell their produce and Businesses wentbankrupt. Yet there is no programme in the 2020-21 budget toaddress these issues,'' he claimed.

''Taxes are an inherent component of revenue mobilisationfor govt projects. In order to avoid direct increase of tax,Nirmala Sitharaman is trying to increase the cess in the nameof farmers,'' he said.

In spite of being a Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka,Sitharaman has completely ignored the stat, he said, accusingher of allocating more funds to states where elections weredue in the next one year.

''If Karnataka goes for election every year, we may getmore funds,'' he added.

Kumaraswamy also took to Twitter and said the Centre thathas hiked prices, while claiming its budget was aimed atevolving Aatma Nirbhar Bharat, was indulging in talks of''Aatma Vanchane'' (self deception).

''Is it possible for India to be self-reliant with such ahike in prices. Diesel and petrol prices are alreadyincreasing. It looks like the Centre seems to have not takeninto account the impact of the new hike in prices,'' he said.

PTI KSU SSVS VS