Budget 'betrays' farmers, no mention of MSP: SAD MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal

Shiromani Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Thursday accused the Centre of "cheating" farmers and said there was no mention of Minimum Support Price, as promised to the protesting farmers, in the Union Budget 2023-24.

Participating in a debate on the budget in Lok Sabha, the former Union food processing industries minister said farmers were sitting at Delhi borders for months, but no central ministers visited them.

"Farmers were at Delhi borders for a year... 800 farmers lost their lives, did any minister visit them?" she asked.

"The government asked the farmers to end their protest and promised them a law on Minimum Support Price (MSP). It is not even mentioned in the budget," she said.

Badal said words like 'aatmanirbhar' (self-reliant) and 'achche din' (good days)were missing from the budget.

"The budget has new 'jumlas' (gimmicks), new names, and neither unemployment nor inflation were mentioned. But the biggest betrayal is to the farmers," she said.

"The government is patting its back and saying ration was provided to 80 crore people... It could be possible because of the 'annadata' (farmers)," she said.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader further said Punjab has been providing foodgrain to the nation for decades, which has resulted in the state's water table going down, and that the state may become barren a few decades from now.

She said funds allocation has been reduced to schemes like PM Fasal Beema Yojana, MNREGA, and the allocation for the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) and Price Support Scheme (PSS) was reduced from Rs 1,500 crore to Rs 1 lakh.

"This budget betrays the farmers and labourers," she said.

National Conference's Anantnag MP, Hasnain Masoodi slammed the Union government for cutting budget allocations to Jammu and Kashmir. He said the funds allocated are not enough to meet the challenges of the Union territory.

"The challenges faced by Jammu and Kashmir have not been mentioned... unemployment is the biggest challenge," he said.

Masoodi also mentioned the ongoing anti-encroachment drive in the region, and said people were losing their livelihood due to the exercise.

"There is a new problem... the bulldozer issue. Shops are being demolished, more people are becoming unemployed," he said.

Jayadev Galla of the TDP raised the issue of reduction in allocation for MGNREGA and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL), also known as Vizag Steel. He demanded more funds for Andhra Pradesh and also sought special category status for the southern state.

M P Abdussamad Samadani (IUML) said the budget is against fiscal federalism and is not inclusive. He said the reduction in allocation for MGNREGA, a scheme for providing jobs to poor, shows the government's intention towards poverty alleviation.

Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) said the budget only makes lofty claims and is "anti-people", adding that it has no plan for employment generation and farmers.

"The tax exemptions in the budget is just a smoke screen to hide the monumental failure of the government," she said.

Taking another dig at the Centre, CPI(M) member A M Ariff said the Narendra Modi government is good at coming out with catchy words for "deceiving" people.

Meanwhile, BJP MP from Madhya Pradesh, Sudheer Gupta hailed the Union budget and said it is an excellent and "all-inclusive" budget.

He said the budget, presented in 'Amrit Kaal', has significant allocation for health and education sectors, and several steps were taken for poverty alleviation.

"The provision kept for free food for 80 crore poor is the right step for giving relief to marginal sections of the society," he said.

Gupta also hailed the Modi government's success in "inoculating the entire population of the country with COVID-19 vaccines".

BJP MP Jagdambika Pal said India today is among the top five economies of the world because of the decisive steps taken by the government.

"We have moved forward for making India 'aatmanirbhar'. Electronics exports have grown. In renewable energy, India has become the new favourite destination. In the defence sector, India is manufacturing and exporting. Defence export has increased six times. The country is also the second largest textile and clothing exporter," he said.

JD(U) MP Chandeshwar Prasad accused the central government of doing nothing to tackle poverty.

YSRCP MP Krishna Devarayalu Lavu said the budget is "encouraging in some ways, worrying in some ways and disappointing in many ways". He added that nothing was mentioned about cryptocurrency in it.

"National Rural Livelihood Mission funds have been reduced and NREGA funds are not been released on time. It is very disappointing," he said.

For BJP MP Sandhya Ray, the budget has something for everyone, especially the backward classes.

"Earlier, the government never tried to bring the backward classes to the mainstream, but Atal ji and Modi ji have worked for the welfare for all, keeping in mind 'sabka saath sabka vikas'," she said.

N K Premchandran from the Rashtriya Socialist Party (RSP) demanded to know the reasons behind "rising inflation" in the country. "The budget proposals are not favouring the general public, especially the middle class," he said.