Very little to cheer about in Budget; only Bihar, Andhra gained: Shashi Tharoor

New Delhi, July 23 (IANS) Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday criticised the Central government over the Union Budget, saying that there was very “little to cheer about” in the Budget as it has failed to address the issues of common people and only the two states of Bihar and Andhra Pradesh gained and other states did not.

“I am afraid it is an underwhelming Budget. I would say there has very been little to cheer about the Budget,” the Congress MP told media persons after the Budget speech was over.

He said that the government had simply not addressed a number of key issues.

“MGNREGA wasn’t even mentioned. Health and education showed no indication of any increase in the share of GDP allocated to these vital subjects,” the Congress MP said.

He said that there was nothing in the announcement about how to address the income inequality of the country.

“More than 60 per cent of our people have seen their incomes dropping in the last 10 years. What has the government done about it? Very little,” Tharoor said.

He said that even the share markets and the common people have reacted badly to the Budget.

“Only the people of Bihar and Andhra Pradesh have something in it, where they have their government. There are political reasons to satisfy the people of two states but there are 26 other states in the country where people have no reason to be happy,” the Congress MP said.

Earlier, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman laid out nine priorities of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, with a focus on employment, skilling, agriculture and manufacturing.

These are: Agriculture, employment, inclusive development, manufacturing and services, urban development, energy, infrastructure, innovation R&D and next-generation reforms.

The Finance Minister also announced a reduction in customs duty on mobile phones and mobile chargers to 15 per cent.

Other products that are set to become cheaper include mobile phones, imported gold, silver, leather goods and seafood.

The reduction in duties on gold and silver by 6 per cent will significantly give a fillip to retail demand.

For the salaried class, the Finance Minister announced tax sops for over four crore salaried individuals.

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