Union Budget poison laced with honey: V S Achuthanandan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Coming up with a scathing criticism of the Union Budget, former chief minister and administrative reforms commission chairman V S Achuthanandan said it was poison laced with honey.

In a statement issued here, Achuthanandan said distribution of Rs 6,000 in three instalments to farmers could do little to address the problems plaguing the agriculture sector. He said when the whole farming sector was in dire straits and the farmers have been unable to repay their loans, the doleout in the budget was of not much help to the farmers. Instead, their loans should have been either written off or a moratorium should have been imposed on them, Achuthanandan said.

The government has created a false impression that it has done something for the agriculture sector, the former CM said, adding a cautionary note that the farmers would see through the smokescreen.

The budget has ignored the traditional sectors and no proposals have been put forward for improving the employment opportunities. Similarly, the government’s claims that it would bring back black money has also been exposed, Achuthanandan said.