Chennai: Describing the state budget as “a paper flower without fragrance and a mirage which will not quench thirst”, DMK chief M. Karunanidhi on Friday said it would not help to wipe the tears of poor and middle class people.
He said the debt burden of the state had gone up to Rs 2,52,431 crores and this could not be termed as good financial management. There is no explanation from the government on containing the fiscal deficit within 3 per cent.
The DMK leader said no budget allocation had been made to implement the announcements made by Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa during the last few years and those schemes remain only on paper.
Compared to the allocation in the interim budget presented in February, allocations to major departments like education had been reduced, he said.
The allocation for revenue which was Rs 5,974 crores had been decreased to Rs 5,686 crore, while the allocation for water resources had gone down from Rs 3,673 crore to Rs 3,406.69 crore. Besides, for transport the allocation had been reduced from Rs 1,590 crore to Rs 1,295 crores.
“For health, the allocation in February was Rs 9,350 crore and it is Rs 9,073 crore last time. Similarly, the allocation for higher education had come down from Rs 3,821 crore to Rs 3,679 crore and that for school education from Rs 24,820 crore to Rs 24,129 crore”.
He also pointed out a few contradictions between the interim and revised budget and said the revenue as per the revised budget had fallen from that during the interim budget and the state’s share of Central taxes too had come down.
