Congress lashes out at Khattar govt over finances

Bhartesh Singh Thakur
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 15

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Congress leaders on Monday lashed out at the government over rising debt and revenue deficit and falling per capita income during a discussion on the Budget.

They pointed out that 2 per cent surcharge on stamp duty in rural areas and 2 per cent panchayat duty on power consumption had been mentioned in the Budget.

Leading the attack, former minister Kiran Choudhry said sanctity of the Budget had not been maintained and pointed out differences in figures in the Hindi speech read by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and its English translation. “You should find out the officials who misled the Chief Minister,” she said.

Congress chief whip Bharat Bhushan Batra said that there was a lot of repetition. The capital expenditure projected was so little that it was difficult to imagine a medical college in every district, he said.

Independent MLA Sombir Sangwan said the share of the agricultural sector had been reduced from 12.42 per cent in 2020-21 to 10.33 per cent in the 2021-22 Budget.