Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi today hailed the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley as "dedicated to villages, the poor and the farmers" from which Bihar will "gain the most".
"The budget is dedicated to villages, the poor and the farmers, besides women, senior citizens and the salaried class. It also has a special thrust on public health and small industries. A state like Bihar stands to gain the most from this budget", he said here in a statement.
The Deputy CM, who also holds the Finance portfolio, asserted, "poor people and farmers of Bihar would be benefited the most by measures like a 1.5 times increase in minimum support price and annual health cover of Rs five lakh".
"Bihar also stands to gain the most from measures for giving a boost to animal husbandry and pisciculture which include credit cards for farmers, allocation of Rs 10,000 crore for building infrastructure and an 11,000 crore fund for farmers' debts", the senior BJP leader said.
"Other laudable moves include free gas connection to eight crore women under the Ujjwala scheme, free power connection to four crore poor people and loans worth Rs 75,000 crore to self help groups. The proposal of Rs 500 per month for nutrition to TB patients is also worth appreciation", he added.
"Senior citizens have been provided relief by the hike in tax exemption on interests on deposits from Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000. Standard deduction on Rs 40,000 will benefit the salaried class while reduction in corporate tax from 30 to 25 per cent will give a fillip to micro, small scale and medium enterprises", he claimed.
"On the one hand, the Union budget will enable backward states like Bihar to prosper and on the other it would lead to accelerated economic progress for the entire country", the Deputy CM said.
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