New Delhi: Parliament on Wednesday completed the first stage of the budgetary exercise as Rajya Sabha returned the relevant bills which Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha termed as the budget for upliftment of India.
Winding up the debate on the Budget in the Upper House, Sinha countered opposition charge about inflation, saying the government has done a "good job" in managing inflation and the prices of most of the commodities with the exception of pulses has either come down or has remain stable.
The Appropriation Bill and Vote on Account Bills were passed on the last day of first part of the Budget session after a discussion during which the opposition said the Budget lacks "direction and purpose".
Sinha insisted that the government policies were dedicated to the poor and uplifting the last man in the row.
"Ye desh ki udaan ka Budget hai (this Budget is for the upliftment of the country)," he said, adding the proposals have focused on poor and he farm sector.
The Minister further said that the decision to keep the fiscal deficit under check at 3.5 per cent of the GDP for 2016-17 was highly appreciated by the Economist magazine and has also evoked good response from the bond market.
Brushing aside the opposition criticism that the government has curtailed allocations for sociakl sector schemes, Sinha said "we have earmarked substantial funds for healthcare and irrigation and plans for SC and ST.
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