'It is a tired man's Budget, lacks dynamism'

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said on Saturday the government has presented a 'tired man's Budget' which lacked dynamism and the vision to overcome food insecurity and price rise.

"This is a tired man's budget. There is no dynamism in it. . . it lacks vision," Swaraj said at a Ficci-organised function in New Delhi.

She maintained that the allocation for increasing agricultural productivity and irrigation, among several other subjects, were too less to usher in any significant growth.

The senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader enumerated the programmes launched by the erstwhile National Democratic Alliance regime and alleged that the United Progressive Alliance had been 'lethargic' in implementing them.

She named the Golden Quadrilateral scheme and the interlinking of rivers as two such projects which were 'slowed down' by the UPA.

Corruption, she insisted, was one reason for the delay. On the sensitive issue of food security, Swaraj said the government had faltered as it was yet not clear about the exact number of people Below the Poverty Line who need to be covered under the Food Security Act.

"Moreover, there has been a fall of 8 per cent in the land under agriculture since last year. From 680 lakh hectares under agriculture it has come down to 626 lakh hectares, leading to a fall in production of foodgrains," she said.

The Leader of Opposition also pointed out lack of storage facilities in the government-owned FCI godowns.

She also accused the Centre of providing less foodgrain to the states for disposal under the Public Distribution System.

Without proper vision and the will to implement the plans, Millennium Development Goals and Vision 2020 will not yield results, she maintained.

"We are midway for the Vision 2020 goals and need to analyse whether we are moving at the required pace. There is no scope for repentance," Swaraj said.

The Vidisha member of Parliament asserted that hunger was the biggest challenge before the country today and quoted Economic Survey figures to argue that poverty and inequality had increased in the country since the last fiscal year.

"The country needs another Green Revolution," she said.

She recalled that the BJP manifesto had identified eradication of hunger, corruption and fear as its goals if it was voted to power.

"National security, both internal and external, is a challenge. Half of the districts in the country are not under government control as the writ of either Maoists or Naxals or insurgents runs there," Swaraj said.

"Peace is a pre-requisite for development," she added. On corruption, Swaraj said that it was a 'termite' eating the whole nation.

Image: Sushma Swaraj