RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, March 14: Agriculture Minister Badal Patralekh today attacked the union government for allegedly ‘helping corporates at the cost of interest of the poor’.
Patralekh was giving his reply in justification of his demand of Rs 2804 crore for his department’s expenditure in the financial year 2023-24 as the BJP legislators boycotted the debate over the budget. He was trying to explain how his government has worked in the interest of poor farmers unlike the union government which has worked in the interest of corporate houses ignoring the interest of the poor.
“On July 19, 1969 when Indira Gandhi was prime minister she nationalized 14 big private banks in one stroke and helped the poor using deposits of corporate houses in those banks. Contrary to this, the present prime minister is helping the corporate houses by using the deposits of the poor in nationalized banks,” Patralekh said, adding that the union government has taken an extra burden of Rs 1.5 lakh crore on its head by reducing corporation tax.
Patralekh, on the occasion, mentioned how the union government provided Rs 548.83 crore for over 27 lakh farmers of Jharkhand under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Nidhi Yojna in election year 2018-19 and then later started reducing the number of beneficiaries in connivance with banks. He said the value of Rs 6000 provided to each farmer under the scheme has reduced but the amount under the scheme was not increased.
Patralekh mentioned how the state registered a record production of food grain, helped drought affected farmers unlike the previous BJP government, provide a pair of oxen to the farmers of those areas where a tractor cannot be used for cultivation, increased procurement of milk from 97000 litres per day to 143000 litres per day.
BJP legislator Randhir Singh while opposing the demand said that the state government failed to spend its previous year’s budgetary provision. The minister rubbished the allegation and presented data explaining how the government properly utilized the budgetary provision. He said the government spent 75 percent of its budget provided for the co-operative department.
Presenting figure Patralekh said the amount percentage spent against the budgetary allocation included 61 percent of the animal husbandry department, 75 percent of dairy department, 79 percent of fishery department, 45 percent of agriculture department and 15 percent of land conservation department.
The BJP MLAs boycotted his speech. On which the minister said it is not a healthy trend for democracy. He remembered how former PM and BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee praised the government for good work while being in the opposition.
