The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : YSR hails Union budget

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 01, 2006

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

YSR hails Union budget

Special Correspondent

Rs. 27,000-crore direct benefits for Andhra Pradesh

HYDERABAD: Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy hailed the Union budget for "displaying a very sustainable direction and growth rate" on Tuesday.

Reacting to the budget, he told reporters that all the growth factors were given the right impetus under the visionary leadership of UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

Doubling agriculture credit within two years was in tune with the policy adopted by the State Government too, he said congratulating Ms. Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He said the economy was well on its course to achieve the 10 per cent growth rate as planned.

He ridiculed TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu for claiming that the State was neglected, and urged him to develop "proper vision".

Reeling out "direct benefits" to the State in the form of Rs. 27,000 crores accrued to it in the manufacturing and industrial sectors out of the Rs.1. 22 lakh crores earmarked for the PSUs, he said that one could not be oblivious to reality. Metro service in Hyderabad and the sanction of a Maritime Study Centre in Visakhapatnam were a few other benefits.

"Every State has to get its share. Is it right to expect that every project should to come to us ? We have bagged the Fab city. The budget now assures us of Rs. 2,500-crore assistance. Isn't it an achievement for us?" he asked.

He said during the nine-year-long rule of the TDP, the State had not benefited even by a single rupee as far as the manufacturing sector was concerned.

`Futile exercise'

The BJP State unit said that the budget was "directionless" and "match fixing budget" between the Congress and Left to keep the people satisfied in view of the elections to five States.

Several key areas including education, health, rural development, small-scale industry and employment generation had been totally neglected. The Finance Minister had lost a good opportunity to cash in on the boom being witnessed in the economy by not mentioning about the steps to consolidate the economy, senior BJP leader and former Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, said.

`Disappointing'

Describing the budget as disappointing, the CPI State unit said that the Finance Minister had failed to explore options for bringing out black money.

The CPI State secretary K. Narayana said while the cost for implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee was pegged at Rs. 40,000 crores, the allocation of Rs. 14,000 crores for the scheme reflected the Government's commitment to its effective implementation.

Directionless: Naidu

Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu has criticised the Central budget as lacking in direction and neglecting the welfare, agriculture, rural development and the middle classes.

Talking to reporters here on Tuesday, Mr. Naidu said the bugdet was presented routinely. He faulted the increase in service tax and said the proposals failed to cater to the needs of the poor and other sections.

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