New Delhi, Jul 30: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday termed misleading claims by opposition leaders that if any state is not named in the Budget speech, then it does not get any budgetary allocation.
Replying to a Budget discussion in the Lok Sabha, Sitharaman asserted that no state was being denied money.
She recalled that in the past Budgets by the UPA government also did not mention names of all states in their Budget speech.
“I have been picking up on Budget speeches since 2004-2005, 2005-2006, 2006-2007, 2007-2008 and so on. The Budget of 2004-2005 did not take the name of 17 states. I would like to ask the members of the UPA government at that time – did money not go to those 17 states? Did they stop it?” Sitharaman said.
She was responding to comments by several opposition members that the Budget has provided funds only to Bihar and Andhra Pradesh and nothing to other states.
Responding to a remark by TMC leader Saugata Roy that the JNU-educated Finance Minister is “bereft of new ideas”, Sitharaman retorted by saying that even the Chief Minister and Finance Minister of West Bengal have studied from the University of Calcutta (not from Harvard or Oxford). “I want to ask him, are they too bereft of ideas?”
“From the land of Bengal, which gave us ‘Vande Mataram’, today we have Professor Saugata Roy, who remarked that I’m ‘bereft’ of new ideas because I’m from JNU and not Harvard or Oxford… We’re all from Indian Universities, and I want to ask him, in what way, are we less than the Harvards and Oxfords of the world? Even he teaches at an Indian University. He should be ashamed of himself,” the minister said.
To Roy’s remark on inequality in the country, Sitharaman said, “It is a shameful statement to make that inequality was less under British than now”.
She said West Bengal’s share of the total Industrial Production of the country, which used to be 24 per cent at the time of Independence, declined to just 3.5 per cent by 2021.
She also said the government is complying with the fiscal deficit trajectory. It will bring down the deficit to below 4.5 per cent by 2025-26 from the targeted 4.9 per cent for the current fiscal. The deficit was 5.6 per cent in 2023-24. “I am confident of achieving this goal of 4.9 per cent”.
After Sitharaman’s reply in the lower House, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a post on X, said, “FM @nsitharaman presents a very comprehensive picture of this year’s Budget and what it offers for every section of society. She reiterates our Government’s commitment to growth and reforms”.
Sitharaman said India is the fastest-growing economy globally and has overcome the after-effects of the pandemic due to heavy capex push.
The Budget has provided substantial financial support of Rs 17,000 crore to the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir this year. It includes Rs 12,000 crore towards financing the cost of J&K police.
“That’s the burden we want to take on our shoulders,” Sitharaman said.
