NEW DELHI: YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) MP V Vijayasai Reddy spoke during a debate about the Union Budget in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday and stated that focusing on the Atma-nirbharta of AP and the Union budget gives no “Saath” to the States, “Vikas” for the States, not taken the States into “Vishwas” and not supporting the “Prayas” of the States. He said that Andhra Pradesh was treated unfairly in the Union Budget. He criticized the Finance Minister saying that there was nothing but hype in the budget introduced for the 2022-23 financial year. : This budget operation was a success ... but the patient died, “ he commented.

Vijayasai Reddy stated that the budget disappointed the party and the people. “If the budget allocations are rationalised, AP government is spending 5.9 percent of its budget on agriculture whereas the government of India’s share is 3.9 percent and on education, AP’s budget allocations were 11.8 percent and Centre’s contribution is merely 2.6 percent. Agriculture, education and health sectors are crucial for the country’s growth but the allocations were poor in the union budget,” said Vijayasai Reddy.

Talking about the tax slabs rates, Vijayasai Reddy pointed out, “The cumulative inflation is 48 percent from 2014 to 2022 while the tax exemption slabs remained unchanged and this is a pathetic situation. Inflation and tax exemption rates should be linked. Also there are five TDS documents, one has to collect in order to file tax returns and it’s a tedious process. Instead of five, it should be brought under one roof,” the YSRCP MP said.

On subsidies, Vijayasai Reddy mentioned food and fertilizers. “Centre claims that nobody remained hungry during the pandemic but in the current budget food subsidy is down by 28 percent. Reducing subsidy on fertilizers is definitely anti-farmers and increase in fertilizers products has severely affected the farmers,” added Vijaysai Reddy.

Regarding AP’s share in Union Budget, Vijaysai Reddy mentioned about south-coastal railway zone, Vizag – Chennai industrial corridor, Polavaram project, Kadapa steel plant, Dugarajapatnam Port, Kakinada, petrochemical complex which are yet to be addressed by the union government.

Spoke on the Union Budget in the Rajya Sabha today focusing on the Atma-nirbharta of AP and that the budget gives no “Saath” to the States, “Vikas” for the States, not taken the States into “Vishwas”and not supporting the “Prayas” of the States.https://t.co/IliumVIjpB
— Vijayasai Reddy V (@VSReddy_MP) February 9, 2022