Adityanath terms Budget 'holistic', Akhilesh says it will bite into people's savings

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday welcomed the Union Budget 2022-23 as "progressive" and "holistic", even as president of main opposition Samajwadi Party Akhilesh Yadav said it will cut into the pockets of the general public. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled a bigger Rs 39.45 lakh crore Budget in Parliament on Tuesday, with higher spending in areas like highways and affordable housing with a view to fire up the key engines of the economy to sustain a world-beating recovery from the pandemic.

"This is a budget which fulfils the vision of AatmaNirbhar Bharat. It is holistic and progressive, and it pushes the economy on the path to be the biggest economy in the world. We welcome the Union Budget. We thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Sitharaman for a budget which is progressive for farmers, women and the youth," Adityanath said here.

"The budget has important provisions for MSP and also to achieve the target of doubling the income of farmers. This will fulfil the long-pending demands of the farmers," he added.

There is a provision for 60 lakh jobs to the youth, and the youth of Uttar Pradesh will get an opportunity to move ahead, the chief minister said. "This will also help in achieving the target of women empowerment."

Recognising the importance of 'Nari Shakti', Finance Minister Sitharaman said three schemes will be launched to provide integrated development for women and children.

Samajwadi Party chief Yadav, however, said the budget will bite into the savings of the people.

"All work and businesses have come to a standstill... There is a historical recession, lakhs of jobs have been lost... Incomes of the general public have decreased... All savings lost due to unemployment and (treatment of) disease... Now another budget by the BJP has come to bite into the savings of the people," he said in a tweet in Hindi.

Reacting to the budget, Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma termed the announcement to expand digital education "a revolutionary step".

"Digitalisation will make the life of the common public easy and smooth. The announcement to expand digital education will take education to remote and inaccessible places, and is a revolutionary step in this regard," he added. In the budget, Sitharaman proposed to set up a digital university on a hub and spoke model.

Taking to Twitter, Rashtriya Kisan Manch president Shekhar Dixit said, "The budget has a vision for 25 years, but it has once again overlooked farmers and labourers."

"After the COVID-19 pandemic, neither has the income of farmers doubled, nor have sugarcane growers received their dues in the stipulated time of 14 days. 'Samman nidhi' of the farmers has also not increased," he said in another tweet in Hindi.