Govt. proposal to increase allocation for NE evokes mixed reactions in Manipur

Our correspondent Imphal, Feb. 2 (EMN): The Central government’s proposal to increase allocation to the north-eastern region by 21% in the interim budget has evoked mixed reactions in Manipur with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) welcoming it and the Opposition criticising the move. Finance Minister Piyush Goyal while presenting Interim budget in the parliament on Friday proposed to increase the allocation to the region by 21% to INR 58,166 crore in the interim budget for 2019-20. The budget provides major relief to the middle income section as individual tax payers with an annual income of upto INR 5 lakh will get full tax rebate. Reacting to the interim budget, Vice President M Asnikumar Singh of BJP Manipur Pradesh opined that “these reforms and initiatives couldn’t have come at a better time. It is a good feeling to see the lower and middle class’s plight being realised and acted upon by the government.” “I believe that a government which listens to the problems and plight of its people and acts upon it promptly is there for the long haul. This was, is and will always be a government that will show its true good intentions through its actions rather than words and that is what every democratic govt ought to be,” he said. “The interim budget 2019 is a clear reflection of the government’s intention of continuation on the path of a healthy, prosperous India,” he added. Ksh Santa, a key functionary of CPI state unit alleged that the Interim Budget 2019-20 is suppressing and manipulating data and offering ‘jumlas’ to the Indian people. “The tall claim of record of the government and promises of a rossy future for all Indians- which are a cruel joke played on the sufferings of the people of the country,” he said. The union budget he said is yet another reflection of bankruptcy of Modi Government. “No amount of spin can, however, remove the distress that farmers and workers and people in general feel or the poverty and joblessness people actually experience,” he claimed. “This grim reality will assert itself in the 2019 electoral verdict,” he added. Speaking to Eastern Mirror, General Secretary Kh Debabrata of the main opposition Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee said the “Congress party is deeply disturbed by imposition of Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 against the will of the people. So, how much we are getting or not in the budget is not important to us now,” he said.