The Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) has called the budget “destructive” and an “act of regression”.
In a statement on Thursday, APCC President S. Sailajanath said the 2.30 lakh crore annual budget for 2021-22 was nothing more than a “pile of debt.”
With the exception of Navaratnalu, no other welfare program has received an allocation. The budget speaks of an allocation of 1,000 crore to fight COVID-19 and 1,600 crore to purchase vaccines, but said nothing about the funds needed to maintain an uninterrupted supply of oxygen and medication alongside hospital management, he said .
While the agricultural budget was fixed at £ 68,000, farmers were denied the rebate price for their products. Of the 4,000 crore expected to be released for payments to AgriGold victims, only 200 crore have been allocated.
Although adequate funding has been allocated to the education and health sectors, it is not certain how much money the government will actually release from it, he said.
He also made an exception to budget non-allocation for frontline warriors who had tirelessly served virus-stricken populations in the state without caring about their own lives.
He demanded assignments for medical and community personnel and the inclusion of journalists on the list of warriors at the front.