Pradeep Sharma

Pradeep Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 1

The 2021-22 Union Budget, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, has disappointed BJP-ruled Haryana, with no major announcement for the state.

While the entire North India seems to have been ignored in the Union Budget, Haryana, pinning hopes on the Budget, has special reasons to feel ignored in the wake of economic crisis triggered by the pandemic. This is despite the fact that Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had batted for special financial assistance of Rs 5,000 crore for Haryana for its development in the upcoming Union Budget 2021-22 during pre-Budget consultations with the Union Finance Minister recently. The special financial assistance amount sought for by Khattar included Rs 3,000 crore for Covid management, creation of health and medical infrastructure and rural development.

It included Rs 1,000 crore for NCR development and Rs 1,000 crore for creation of capital infrastructure under micro-irrigation and pond rejuvenation. However, official sources said the incremental benefits of the schemes announced in the Union Budget would go a long way in kick starting the development process in the state. There might not be a big announcement for the state, yet new initiatives in the Budget in the agricultural, rural development and industrial sectors would benefit a large section of the state’s population, the sources asserted.

Sitharaman’s announcement in the 2020-21 Budget of developing Rakhigarhi, an archaeological site tracing its origin to the Indus Valley Civilisation, as an iconic site with on-site museums seems to have remained on paper. In fact, the pandemic seems to have taken its toll on the project, with not much progress having been witnessed.