The Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) has called the budget “destructive” and an act of “regression.”
In a statement on Thursday, APCC president S. Sailajanath said the ₹2.30 lakh crore annual Budget for 2021-22 was nothing but a “pile of debts.”
Barring Navaratnalu, no other welfare programme was sanctioned budgetary allocation. The Budget speaks of allocation of ₹1,000 crore to battle COVID-19 and ₹1,600 crore for purchase of vaccines, but was silent on funds needed for uninterrupted supply of oxygen and medicines, besides hospital management, he said.
While the agriculture Budget was pegged at ₹68,000 crore, farmers were being denied remunerative price for their produce. Of the ₹4,000 crore expected to be released for payments to be made to AgriGold victims, only ₹200 crore was allocated.
Though adequate allocations were made to the education and health sectors, it was not sure how much money the government would actually release from this, he said.
He also took exception to non-allocation of budget for frontline warriors, who had been relentlessly serving the virus-hit population in the State without caring for their own lives.
He demanded allocations for medical and municipal staff, and inclusion of journalists in the list of frontline warriors.