Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of Bihar, referred to the union budget as “disappointing” on Wednesday and claimed that the state’s demands for special status and a package of 20,000 crore were disregarded. The budget priorities, according to Nitish Kumar, are altered annually and “not being fulfilled due to lack of focus and funds.”
“The budget is uninspired and unsatisfactory. Every year, the budget’s priorities are altered, but they continue to fall short due to lack of funding and loss of focus, the JD(U) leader claimed in a written statement.
In August of last year, Kumar left the BJP to rejoin the “Mahagathbandhan,” and he continued, “Bihar has once again been neglected, and our demand for special status has been ignored. Without the development of poor states, inclusive growth will remain a pipe dream.
The declaration was made following Kumar’s late-night return to the state capital from the north Bihar area of Supaul, where he had been on his “Samadhan Yatra.”
“There is no clear road plan for creating jobs. Despite a memorandum being submitted (to the Centre) to that effect, the borrowing limit for states has not been raised, he continued.
He also criticised Sitharaman’s seven priorities, calling them “just a repackaging of existing central schemes.” The seven objectives, known as “Saptarshi,” according to Kumar, “follow the pattern of saat nishchay (seven resolves) that we introduced in 2016 as the guiding principle of schemes to be introduced and implemented by the government in the state.”
He continued by saying that “sufficient funding provisions” had not been made when the “Saptarshi” plans were introduced.
Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, a senior JD(U) leader and the state’s finance minister, said in a forceful statement that “none of the demands I made during the pre-budget meeting with Sitharaman have been met. This budget is unfavourable to the poor and is not in Bihar’s best interests. The state’s citizens will respond to the BJP appropriately for this.
“Due to the cap established in the budget, states will be able to borrow less while yet having to shoulder more weight as a result of nationally supported initiatives. This is cruel,” he raged.
“Bihar, which has experienced growth of more than 10%, compared to the national average of 7%, has received nothing from this budget. We required support, like as interest-free loans from the Center for investments in infrastructure, etc., to maintain the growth rate. On that, the budget is silent,” he continued.
