Hyderabad: The Union Budget presented Wednesday had nothing "worthwhile" for various sections of society and it was particularly disappointing for minorities, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) President Asaduddin Owaisi alleged.
"The Union Budget for 2017-18 looks hardly inspiring. There is nothing worthwhile for every section of society and every sector of the country's economy. Particularly for the minorities, the budget is very disappointing," the Lok Sabha MP from Hyderabad said.
The allocation for minorities welfare was meager though they account for 20 per cent of the country s population, he claimed in a statement here.
"Minorities account for 20 per cent of the country's population (24.17 crores out of 121.08 crores) but they were allocated Rs 4,515 crores in the Budget which envisages total expenditure of Rs 21,46,735 crore.
"The outlay for minorities comes to just 0.21 per cent (one-fifth of 1%) though they account for 20 per cent of the population. The per capita outlay for minorities comes to only Rs 187 per capita. The per capita budgetary expenditure for the country's population is Rs 17,730," he said.
Though AIMIM had demanded scrapping Haj subsidy on chartered flights and instead allocating the money for education of Muslim girls, it has not been done. The allocation for madrasa education has been reduced in comparison with the allocation for 2015-16 though the party sought a higher allocation for the purpose, the MP said.
"Overall, the allocations for Ministry of Minority Affairs, as also madrasa education under the HRD Ministry and the Haj subsidy under the Ministry of Civil Aviation rose from actual expenditure of Rs 3,765.33 crore in 2014-15 and Rs 4,480.33 crore in 2015-16 but declined to Rs 4,397.205 crore in budget estimates for 2016-17 and Rs 4,354.25 crore in revised estimate for 2016-17.
"The Budget estimate for the fiscal 2017-18 is Rs 4,515.48 crores for Ministry of Minority Affairs, madrasa education and Haj subsidy," he said.
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