'Not enough allocated to Defence amid growing border threat': Punjab CM critical of Budget

Castigating the Union Budget 2020-21 presented on Monday in the Parliament, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh slammed Centre for the 'stepmotherly' treatment meted out to Punjab. Claiming that the budget was 'designed' to cater to poll-bound states including West Bengal and other southern states, the Punjab CM remarked that the budget reflected Centre's efforts to 'sideline' non-BJP ruled states. Capt. Amarinder Singh also criticised the Budget 2021, alleging that not enough credit had been allocated to the Defence sector amidst the growing border tensions with China and Pakistan. 

'Amid growing border threat..'

Reacting to the budget 2021, Capt Amarinder Singh said that the 'vital sector' of Defence had not been adequately addressed despite the growing border threat from China and Pakistan. He also claimed that the allocation to the Health sector was actually 'down' amidst the COVID crisis. The Punjab CM's remarks come even after the Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh highlighted that the defence budget has been hiked to 4.78 lakh crore for 2021-22. Singh also revealed that this was the highest increase in capital outlay for defence in the last 15 years.

READ | Defence Budget Hiked To Rs 4.78 Lakh Crore; Gets Biggest Capital Outlay Increase In 15 Yrs

"And did the Finance Minister not find it necessary to even mention constitutional guarantee for the MSP, one of the key demands of the farmers battling cold and lathis on the doorstep of New Delhi for over two months now," the Punjab CM asked. He also called out the Centre for only two per cent hike in the credit for the agriculture sector, which had been the only well-performing sector for the country amid the coronavirus lockdown. 

READ | Mamata Banerjee Denounces Budget 2021, Claims Prices Will Hike Despite FM's Assurance

Earlier in the day, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh thanked Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and PM Modi and welcomed the Union Budget 2021. Maintaining that this budget lays the foundation for a Self-Reliant India, the senior BJP leader contended that this will expedite the country's economic transformation. According to him, this budget is an addition to the series of mini-budgets unveiled by the Union Finance Minister in 2020 during the challenging COVID-19 pandemic. Singh pointed out that it focuses on economic reforms, employment generation, capital formation and creating infrastructure in India.

READ | Budget 2021 Thrills Nitin Gadkari; MoRTH Minister Hails 'historic' Infrastructure Push

Finance Minister presents Union Budget

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday presented the first-ever paperless budget in a post-COVID India and based it on six pillars—health and well-being, physical and financial capital and infrastructure, inclusive development for aspirational India, reinvigorating human capital, innovation and R&D, minimum government, maximum governance. At the start of Union Budget 2021, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman quoted Rabindranath Tagore and called the Budget the 'dawn of a new era'. She also hailed the Indian cricket team for their recent Cricket Test series win against Australia. 

READ | Budget 2021: From 6 Pillars To Direct & Indirect Tax, Everything FM Sitharaman Announced