Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Friday welcomed the interim Union budget, saying it is good and would help improve the livelihood of the poor and common people, while the opposition dismissed it as a poll manifesto.
Chennai:
"I congratulate Piyush Goyal," Palaniswami said and added that it has met the expectations of the farming sector, middle class and the housing and construction industry.
He welcomed the government's vision for the next decade, and the assured income support to the small and marginal farmers under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi.
Citing measures like the three per cent interest subvention to farmers pursuing animal husbandry and fisheries, he such steps would help growth of the primary sector (agriculture) and allied areas.
A separate department for fisheries, Rs 3,000 pension plan under the 'Pradhan Mantri Shram-Yogi Maandhan' for the unorganised sector workers and increase in allocation for social welfare projects and in areas, including welfare of SC/STs and sanitation, was welcome, he said.
Increase in income tax exemption to Rs five lakh, raise in tax deduction at source threshold on interest earned on deposits from Rs 10,000 to Rs 40,000 and standard deduction would all benefit the middle class, salaried and pensioners, he said.
"These announcements are appropriate and aimed at the welfare of the middle classes," Palaniswami told reporters at Salem.
Referring to fund allocation for areas, including the Rashtriya Gokul Mission, construction of rural roads and for housing to all by 2022, the Chief Minister said such announcements would help improve the livelihood of the poor and common people.
"In total, this is a good interim budget," he said.
Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar said the Centre has "fulfilled the Amma's government's demand" for a separate department for Fisheries.
DMK president M K Stalin slammed the Centre for presenting a "full-fledged" budget rather than an interim one and dismissed it saying, "this is not a budget, but a poll manifesto aimed at luring the people."
Stalin, the leader of the opposition in the assembly, dubbed the budget as a "cheap diversionary tactic" and added that the financial statement would be a "bad dream" for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He blamed the Prime Minister for seeking political mileage out of the schemes like the dole for farmers and attacked the government for pegging a lower fiscal deficit.
"Deploying its usual accounting jugglery, the BJP government has pegged the fiscal deficit on a lower scale at 3.4 per cent (of GDP)...the fiscal deficit should have been "4.5 per cent."
PMK chief S Ramadoss said the budget was prepared with an eye on the coming Lok Sabha election and was a mix of many welcome steps and some disappointing ones.
Welcoming the dole for farmers, he urged the Centre to restructure it by announcing a minimum of Rs 10,000 per hectare per annum for them.
MDMK general secretary Vaiko dismissed the budget announcements as "mere poll promises when the government's days are counted."
He said the Centre has announced schemes that it did not come forward to implement in the past four and a half years.
CPI(M) State Secretary K Balakrishnan rejected the budget as 'mere pretension'.
Among the budgetary points he referred to attack the Centre included "no full fund allocation for the 14 new AIIMS."
He said the budget would neither be a solution for the people's problems nor help the BJP at the hustings.
CPI State Secretary R Mutharasan said the people would easily understand that the budget concealed deceit through rhetoric.