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Budget 2023 | By the privileged for the privileged: Manoj Jha

RJD leader slammed ‘Saptarishi’ provisions in Union Budget 2023 as farcical

NEW DELHI | Updated: 01 February, 2023 6:14 pm IST
RJD leader Manoj Jha

Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Manoj Jha slammed the Union Budget 2023 by Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman calling ‘Saptarishi’ farcical.

Sitharaman announced Saptarishi as one of the provisions made to set priorities for the Union Budget 2023.

“Saptarishi (which is introduced this year) is supposed to focus on inclusivity. Tell me one thing in the budget that addresses the issue of inclusivity. This is a major concern,” Jha said.

“The main problem plaguing the nation is unemployment. Has the government presented any framework to address unemployment?” RJD leader said.

“This is the same government that promised 2 crore jobs per year. They were elected because of that. Now they have made the ecosystem such that unemployment is not an issue. That is why I am reiterating that when a budget is made by privileged people for privileged people, it can never become a common budget,” he said.

Sitharaman’s seven priorities for the Budget 2023 include inclusive development, reaching the last mile, infrastructure and investment, unleashing the potential, green growth, youth power and financial sector.

Sitharaman said, “They complement each other and act as the ‘Saptarishi’ guiding us through the Amrit Kaal.”

Citing various programs and schemes of the NDA government, Sitharaman said, “The Government’s philosophy of Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas has facilitated inclusive development covering, in specific, farmers, women, youth, OBCs, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, divyangjan and economically weaker sections, and overall priority for the underprivileged (vanchiton ko variyata).”

“There has also been a sustained focus on Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh and the North-East. This budget builds on those efforts,” she said.

Further, to address inclusivity, Sitharaman said efficient implementation of already existing schemes like Swachh Bharat Mission, Ujjawala, PM Jan Dhan bank accounts, PM Suraksha Bima and PM Jeevan Jyoti Yojana and PM Kisan Samman Nidhi has resulted in inclusive development.

Jha denied all claims made in the budget regarding inclusivity, he said, “In the last eight years, we have only become more hopeless. This is not a personal opinion but is based on what the collective democracy says. This is a common budget, but what is there in it for the common man? Nothing concrete has been said.”

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