Terming the Union budget as "pro-poor", senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi today said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has passed the "examination with distinction" and Bihar stands to benefit due to the Centre's thrust on infrastructure development.
"The PM has passed the budget examination with distinction...The budget is pro-poor and beneficial to Bihar," he said in a statement.
Sushil, who was the finance minister during the erstwhile NDA government in Bihar for eight years, said that the villages, poor people and small taxpayers have been taken care of in the budget.
Bihar, among other backward states, stood to gain from the NDA government's announcement of special package for which financial arrangements as also funds for commitments on account of reorganization of states will be met, the senior BJP leader said.
The former deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, said that the schemes like Rs one lakh worth health insurance, subsidized cooking gas connection to 1.5 crore BPL families, computer literacy for six crore families and proposal to set up 1500 multi-skill training centres will benefit the people.
The provision of Rs 100 crore for Guru Govind Singh's 350th jayanti celebrations at Patna Sahib next year will help in infrastructure development in the state capital, he said.
Bihar further stood to gain Rs 19,000 crore for infrastructure development under the "Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sadak Vikas Yojana" which was more than double the amount that the UPA government used to provide annually, Modi said.
Modi's lavish praise for the Union budget comes in stark contrast to sharp criticism by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad who said that the PM has "failed" in the budget examination.
