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Feb 01, 2023

Opposition Parties Slam Budget 2023, Say It Doesn't Address Inflation and Unemployment

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said that the Union Budget was presented with the assembly elections in 2023 and the 2024 parliamentary elections in mind, terming it “totally opportunistic and anti-people”.
Tejashwi Yadav, Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal. Photos: PTI, Twitter Collage: The Wire

New Delhi: A host of opposition parties said on Wednesday, February 1, that the Union Budget 2023 does not address pressing issues like inflation, price rise and unemployment that are affecting the people of the country. 

Terming it a “contradictory, anti-people budget”, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)]’s politburo said that the Union Budget 2023-24 did not address the central issue of “increasing people’s purchasing power with job generation” and boosting domestic demand, given how the Indian economy has slowed down over the last two years. 

The Left party said that while the government expenditure may look big in absolute numbers, it has shrunk if seen as a percentage of the GDP. The increase in government expenditure is negligible if inflation and population growth are factored in, it said. 

The CPI(M) said that the government expenditures have been “squeezed” further to reduce the fiscal deficit instead of boosting domestic demand. It added that the Budget’s lack of attention towards growing inequality in the country may only “aggravate the economic crisis”, even as the government has given further tax concessions to the rich. 

The party particularly targeted the Union government for a 33% decrease in the allocation of MGNREGA at a time when the unemployment rate is at a “historic high”. 

“Food subsidy is cut by Rs 90,000 crore. Fertilizer subsidy by Rs 50,000 crore and petroleum subsidy by Rs 6,900 crore. Despite the devastation caused by the pandemic, Rs 9,255 crore of the last year’s allocation for health remained unspent. Likewise, Rs 4,297 crore remained unspent in the education budget,” the CPI(M) statement said. 

It said that the social sector has been neglected in the Union Budget. 

“The already measly remuneration for ICDS Scheme workers sees no increase. The gender budget is only 9% of the total expenditure. The SC Budget is only 3.5% against a population of 16% and the ST Budget is only 2.7% against a population of 8.6%. The hollowness of bombastic claims of doubling farmers’ incomes is seen in the reduction of PM Kisan Fund allocation from Rs 68,000 crore to Rs 60,000 crore,” the party said. 

It further said that the tax exemptions for the middle class too are negligible and will be offset by inflationary pressures and cuts in social sector expenditure.

The party said that it will hold nationwide protests seeking higher wages for MGNREGA workers, restoration of subsidised food grains, and withdrawal of GST on food and essential commodities between February 22 and 28, 2023.

Other opposition parties also criticised the government for allegedly ignoring pertinent concerns like unemployment and poverty, and underlined the government’s alleged failures over the last eight years. The Congress called the budget “callous“, adding that it could not be more removed from reality and people’s “concerns about life, livelihood and the growing inequality between the rich and the poor”.

Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav said that while the BJP had promised to double farmers’ income, provide housing to everyone and create 80 crore jobs by 2022, none of these promises have been fulfilled.


Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati said that the Union Budget presented on Wednesday was no different from previous years in which the concerns of the poor were neglected. She said that it was only because of the “narrow-minded” policies of the government that the poor are suffering in the so-called “Amrit Kaal”. She added that while the Union government sees the budget as yet another opportunity to make grand announcements and promises, the truth is that the middle class and the poor are suffering because of inflation and unemployment.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav tweeted along similar lines and said that the BJP government’s budget actually exacerbates problems like unemployment and inflation. He said that the BJP has never catered to the interests of common people in almost a decade of its budgets, and will not do so even in the future. 

Jammu & Kashmir People’s Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti said that the Budget was similar to previous years. “Taxes are increased; money not being spent on welfare schemes and subsidies. Taxes are being collected for some crony capitalists and big businessmen. Public should benefit from taxes but it’s breaking their back,” she said.

Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said that the Union Budget was presented with the assembly elections in 2023 and the 2024 parliamentary elections in mind, terming it “totally opportunistic and anti-people”. She said that the Budget doesn’t address unemployment. 

Aam Aadmi Party chief and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal pointed out the low budgetary allocations to Delhi, alleging a “step-motherly” treatment by the Union government. “The people of Delhi paid Rs 1.75 lakh crore in income tax last year. Out of that, only Rs 325 crore has been given to Delhi for development work. This is completely unjustified,” Kejriwal said.

He further said that the decrease in allocations for health and education is “unfortunate”. 

Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader Y. Sathish Reddy pointed out that allocations for major agriculture-related schemes have been cut substantially.  

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