The Union Budget favoured the private sector and MNCs and meted out a raw deal to Andhra Pradesh, speakers said at a convention on ‘Union Budget- Allocations to Andhra Pradesh,’ organised by the CPI(M) city unit.
CPI(M) Central Committee member Srinivasa Rao, who presided, said belying its tall talk about ‘swadeshi’ BJP budget was skewed in favour of foreign companies. The present state of economy hardly justified the claims of further increasing its size or doubling incomes. Banks had fallen prey to the designs of big defaulters but the government infused capital to make up for it, Mr. Rao said.
The budge was an example of the ‘vindictive attitude’ of the Modi government towards Andhra Pradesh with no mention of Special Category Status and only nominal allocations for girijan and the Central universities. Former Vice-Chancellor K.S. Chalam said the budget neglected Andhra Pradesh beset with financial problems after bifurcation. Most of the funds were allocated to facilitate spending of a lion’s share through contractors.