The Jammu and Kashmir government today presented the Budget for the next fiscal hiking service tax by 2% to 10% and VAT rate by 1% to 13.5%, while focusing on the farm sector.
All the major opposition parties in Jammu and Kashmir including the PDP, CPI(M) and BJP today criticised the Congress-NC coalition government for presenting a "directionless" Budget for 2010-2011 in the state assembly.
"The budget has no direction which can suggest any major relief to our ailing economy", CPI(M) state secretary and MLA Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami said commenting on the Budget tabled earlier during the day by finance minister AR Rather in the House in Jammu.
Noting that the Budget will neither stimulate growth nor help in bringing down rising inflation, he slammed it for not suggesting any initiatives to tackle the alarming rise in the number of unemployed youth in the state nor to redress the grievances of government employees who are on strike demanding payment of 6th Pay Commission arrears.
The Jammu and Kashmir government today presented the Budget for the next fiscal hiking service tax by 2% to 10% and VAT rate by 1% to 13.5%, while focusing on the farm sector.
Commenting on the budget, senior PDP leader and former finance minister Tariq Hameed Karra said it was directionless, and anti-people.
"It (budget) is tentative and imaginary. It is a fraud of figures and has no direction", Karra told reporters here.
Commenting on the Budget shortly after it was introduced in the House, BJP legislature party leader Chaman Lal Gupta in Jammu said, "It is jugglery of figures and nothing else. It also shows the state government's growing dependence on the Centre. Over 85% of the state expenses are to be met from grants and assistance from the Centre."
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