The farmers and industrialist in Punjab have termed the Union Budget-2018 a damp squib alleging it having nothing for their benefit.

The farmer unions in the state have alleged that the Union government has betrayed the farmers as it announced that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for notified kharif crops would be 1.5 times of the cost incurred by farmers for production.

They said that the Union government had submitted in the Supreme Court (SC) showing its helplessness in implementing the same earlier in 2017.

“Now, how can the government will fulfill its promise as it had earlier failed to do so. The government had promised to implement the Swaminathan Commission’s report in its election manifesto which yield no results till date.

The cost calculations were made on last year, while the diesel prices have been increased since then. As the parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held next year the government again making false claims,” Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader, Balbir Singh Rajewal, told The Statesman.

Similarly, another farmer leader, Sukhdev Singh Kokari said that the Union government has failed to announce anything for the benefit of debt-ridden farmers who have been committing suicides. “Over three Lakh farmers have been committed suicides in the country.

We were expecting a special budget announcement for debt-ridden farmers, but to no avail,” he said. Federation of Punjab Small Industry Association (FOPSIA), president Badish K Jindal also condemned the Union budget.

He said, the revenue deficit is on the higher side with a figure of 43,8877Crore which is highest in the last five years which stands at 2.6 per cent. “The government merely allocated Rs 6,552 Crore for 2018-19 as compared to 6,481 Crore for last year to the medium and small scale industry which is shocking,” he said.

Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Badal has slammed the Union budget, saying that the Union government has failed to deliver anything specific to the state. He has termed the budget anti-farmers and anti-industry.

Meanwhile, Punjab Local government minister Navjot Singh Sidhu termed the Union Budget as a big disappointment for the common man and called it anti-people.

He said that the increase in the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops should be in proportion to the increase in oil prices.