Congress tears into Centre, says Budget 2017 a slap on the face for common man

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], Feb. 2 (ANI): Accentuating towards the hardship and sufferings of the masses due to demonetisation of high-value currency, the Congress party on Thursday asserted that the Annual Budget presented by the BJP-led NDA Government is very disappointing as it failed to provide any relief to the person, which was highly expected from the government. "The people who were put to hardship and suffering because of demonetisation, were expecting that a great relief would be announced in the Budget, but the government of India has not come forward even to lift its small finger to help these poor people who have suffered due to demonetisation," Congress leader Peter Alphonse told ANI. Alphonse further said that only "one or two jobs" have been announced in the Budget which only serves the purpose of cosmetic value and would not give any substantial relief to any section of the society. "There are lakhs of schemes which have not been executed so far. In every aspect and every angle the budget is totally disappointing and total failure," he said. On Wednesday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the General Budget proposals for 2017-18 in Parliament and said the major thrust of his fourth budget is on stimulating growth, relief to middle class, affordable housing, curbing black money, promoting digital economy, transparency of political funding and simplification of tax administration. The Finance Minister also outlined the government's overarching agenda - 'Transform, Energise and Clean India'. He also said the government's emphasis will be on implementing all these proposals for the benefit of the farmers, the poor and the under privileged sections of the society. The Budget has evoked diverse reactions from nation across with most of the BJP-opposing parties criticising it for the absence of any breakthrough schemes facilitating compensation for the cash shortage in the country due to demonetisation. (ANI)