Opp terms CM's 'People's budget' impractical

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal today termed the first budget of his government as "peoples' budget" while the opposition described it as 'impractical'.
"It is a peoples' budget. It has tried to fulfil all the aspirations of the people belonging to plains, hills, different tribes and communities living in Assam," Sonowal said after presentation of the deficit budget by Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
The government spoke to all sections of the society before preparing the budget and incorporated many suggestions by them, he added.
"We will move ahead sincerely to fulfil the promises made in the budget. In this regard, we seek cooperation from the opposition also," Sonowal said.

Opposition Congress termed the budget impractical and saffronised while AIUDF said some new things have been tried in it.
"This is a budget for the next eight months, but talked about launching schemes for five years. It talks of rosy things on many issues. This looks impractical. The question remains whether they will be able to fulfil the promises," Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia said.

He also charged the government of trying to induce "saffronisation" through many proposals in the budget.
Besides, "The budget has proposed to reduce VAT on some items. However, it is silent on the VAT hiked on 127 items a few weeks ago. So reduction of VAT on some items is just a token gesture," Saikia said.

He expressed apprehension over continuation of some schemes announced by former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi as there is no mention of those in the budget.
AIUDF MLA Hafiz Bashir Ahmed said the government has tried to do some new things through this budget.
"Some initiatives are there. But the success of the budget will only depend on how the government honestly fulfill their promises," he added.
Ahmed alleged that it neglected the minorities of Assam as there is no scheme for them.
BJP's partner AGP MLA Prafulla Kumar Mahanta said, "The budget tries to fulfill some of the election promises. It has tried some new things and raised hope for people."

The former Chief Minister, however, said only time will tell about success of the budget as the government has to fulfill the promises and take care of the deficit.
"It is also to be seen how the government handles price rise and other burning issues," he said.