Budget focused only on government entities’ sale: Bihar Oppn

Patna, Feb 1 : The Opposition parties in Bihar on Monday slammed the Union Budget, and said it only focused on selling government entities like airports, warehouses and PSUs.
Even as the ruling BJP and JDU welcomed the Budget, its alliance partner and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) president Jitan Ram Manjhi said that privatisation of some of the government entities is not a good option.
In her budget speech on Monday, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that multiple companies including BPCL, Neelanchal Ispat Nigam Ltd, Shipping Corporation of India Ltd will go under the disinvestment process in the next financial year.
Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) leader Rajesh Ranjan, better known as Pappu Yadav said that the budget had not addressed the job scarcity among youths of the country.
“The Finance Minister has increased cess on petrol and diesel by 2.5 per cent, despite the fact that crude prices in the international market are at lower levels. Besides, the daily use of domestic items will also become expensive and will increase inflation soon. It is extremely hard to understand how the Centre will bring down GDP to 9 per cent from minus 23.9 per cent with this Budget,” Pappu Yadav said.
Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav said that Sitharaman has not addressed the education, health, agriculture sectors and only focused on selling government entities like airports, warehouses and PSUs.