The interim Budget was the Narendra Modi sarkar’s last chance to show that it could actually do the right thing by India. Instead, it gave us another bravado display of jumlas, its unique intellectual property.
The interim Budget announced Rs 60,000 crore for MGNREGA. However, over the last few years, it has never released the money to states on time, thus driving away the poorest who desperately needed this lifeline.
Where farmers face loan burdens averaging Rs 45,000, the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana provides a paltry Rs 6,000 per year. Landless labour and tenant farmers experiencing acute rural distress