Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday denied the opposition’s claims that opposition-ruled states were ignored in the Union Budget 2024, which she presented in Parliament on July 23.
Responding to the budget discussion in the Lok Sabha, the minister insisted that no state was denied funds. She noted that previous UPA government budgets also did not mention the names of all states in their speeches.
“I have been picking up on Budget speeches since 2004-2005, 2005-2006, 2006-2007, 2007-2008 and so on. The Budget of 2004-2005 did not take the name of 17 states. I would like to ask the members of the UPA government at that time – did money not go to those 17 states? Did they stop it?” PTI quoted Sitharaman as saying.
“In the 2005-06 budget, 18 states were not named. 13 states were not named in 2006-07, 16 states were not named in 2007-08. Did money not go to them? In 2008-09, 13 states were not named. In 2009-10, 26 states were not named,” the minister said.
The opposition had criticized the Union budget for its announcements for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, states ruled by key National Democratic Alliance (NDA) allies Janata Dal (United) and Telugu Desam Party respectively.
Sitharaman slams UPA over jobs During her address, the finance minister cited an SBI research report that stated India created 12.5 crore jobs between 2014 and 2023.
“SBI research report which was released in July 2024 said India created 12.5 crore jobs between 2014 and 2023 compared to only 2.9 crore during the 10 years of the UPA Govt…The unemployment rate has declined from 6% in 2017-18 to a low of 3.2% in 2022-23. Youth unemployment for the age group 15-29 years has declined sharply from 17.8% in 2017-18 to 10% in 2022-23,” ANI quoted the minister as saying.
Sitharaman also said that the budget allocation for various social schemes has increased compared to last year’s budget and has also grown compared to 2013-14.
According to the minister, the agriculture and allied sector allocation was ₹30,000 crore in 2013-14, whereas now it is ₹1.52 lakh crore. It is ₹8,000 crore more than last year.
