By

(The author is chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and president of

)

First of all I render my deepest condolences on the demise of respected parliamentarian E Ahamed. I believe the government could have been more considerate and sensitive by postponing the budget by a day.As a leader of the people of Uttar Pradesh, I think it is a matter of irony that the state that sends the Prime Minister, defence minister, home minister and 73 MPs of the ruling alliance to the Lok Sabha, has once again been disappointed in the Union budget.This year, however, it was expected since the Election Commission had asked the Centre on January 23 that the budget should not include any specific announcements for states going to elections, in order to provide a level playing field, and quite rightly so.I had then written to the PM that it would be unfair to the people of UP if the budget does not provide anything to the state and therefore the budget should be postponed beyond the elections, as it had been done in 2012, in similar circumstances. But for reasons best known to him, the PM did not care to heed my advice and whereas Gujarat and Jharkhand have got AIIMS, Uttar Pradesh has got nothing.But even in the earlier three budgets of the present government, UP has been repeatedly neglected. Last year, I had written to the finance minister and to the railway minister, asking for specific and doable proposals to be included in their respective budgets. I had asked for budget for relief for farmers, Purvanchal expressway, funds for Bundelkhand and Purvanchal, international airport in western UP, Metros in Kanpur and Varanasi, a third railway line between Kanpur and Allahabad, ROBs to decongest large cities et al. But neither of the ministers paid attention to the rightful needs of the people of UP. So much for cooperative federalism.Looking at the national scene, this budget has been presented in the shadow of an unprecedented crisis created by the decision of demonetization that was forced by the PM on crores of helpless, innocent people. All, including the government itself in its Economic Survey, agree that it has resulted in decline in GDP growth, complete disruption of cash-based economy, loss of employment and livelihood of farmers, labourers, small traders, MSME and untold misery to the poor and common man of India. And the promise of unearthing black money, from within and without the country, has vanished in thin air as the goal posts were sought to be shifted towards a cashless economy. Common people expected in the budget some sensitive measures to ameliorate their sufferings that were imposed on them unnecessarily. Let alone a Universal Basic Income, a concept introduced by the government itself, at least some scheme of money transfer for the poorest was expected.However, we do not find any significant measure to address the distress of farmers, labourers, small traders and businesses. The promise of employment to youth that was made by the government before being elected, remain unfulfilled and no significant action is seen in this direction too. Similarly, the government promises to move towards digital transactions, BHIM app and all, but, without smart phones, how is this going to benefit the poor people of India, on whose name it is being rolled out, is anybody's guess.I am not criticizing for the sake of it. I welcome the decision of tax-relief to the middle class and to MSME and the provision of railway security fund. However, this year, the fourth budget of the present government was expected to bring bold and decisive action to improve demand and put an impetus on growth to provide employment but it lacks the bold vision that was required at this juncture.But, even if the government had announced anything, I doubt whether the people would have believed them, as the biggest crisis the government of India is facing is that of credibility. No promise of the present government is matched by action on the ground.It is once again a budget full of jargons and window dressing but without adequate budgetary provisions and a clear roadmap. For example, FM has talked about doubling the income of farmers in the next five years, but the government is yet to explain how the income of farmers have increased in the past three years. It is like their promise of “Acche Din.” I can say for sure that they cannot name a single big project that they have actually begun in Uttar Pradesh in the past three years. Coupled with this, the reckless adventurism of the government has put the entire economy in a disastrous zone of uncertainty and instability where nobody knows when the next announcement would be made, budget or no budget.The budget does little justice, in terms of statements, programmes and provisions to minorities and women, both of whom have been denied their rightful share in proportion to their population. So much for “sabka saath, sabka vikas.”Overall, a disappointing budget for the nation and the state and lacks credibility.