Agartala, February 03: The state committee of the All India Krishak Sabha (AIKS) staged a protest against the interim budget presented by the central government on Saturday in Agartala. The protesters gathered at Paradise Chowmuhani area of the capital and set fire to a copy of the budget document, expressing their dissatisfaction and anger over the allocation of funds for the agriculture sector.
Pabitra Kar, the secretary of the state committee of AIKS, said that the interim budget did not reflect the voice of the people, especially the farmers who are facing a crisis due to low prices, high input costs, and lack of adequate support from the government. He said that the budget had allocated the least amount for the farmers and had neglected their issues. He also criticized the reduction in the allocation for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), which provides employment and income to the rural poor.
Kar said that the AIKS had decided to protest strongly by burning the budget, which he termed as an anti-farmer and anti-people budget. He said that the budget was not acceptable to the farmers and the common people, who were suffering from the policies of the central government. He demanded that the government should withdraw the budget and present a pro-farmer and pro-people budget that would address the problems of the agrarian sector and the rural economy.
Meanwhile, the CPIM staged a protest against the Union Budget 2024 at Udaipur today, alleging that it was anti-people, anti-farmer and anti-worker. The protest was held in front of the CPIM party office in Jamtala, following a call by the Udaipur CPIM divisional committee.
The protesters burned a copy of the budget, which was presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman on February 01 last. They claimed that the budget had plunged the country into a deep economic crisis and was aimed at benefiting the corporate sector and the ruling party.
CPIM Udaipur Divisional Secretary Dilip Datta, Nikhil Das, Shribhas Das and other leaders addressed the gathering and criticized the budget for ignoring the plight of the common people, especially the workers, farmers and women.
They said that the budget had slashed the allocations for social welfare schemes, agriculture, education, health and employment generation. They also accused the government of selling off the public sector enterprises and natural resources to private players.
The CPIM leaders demanded that the government withdraw the budget and implement pro-people policies to revive the economy and protect the interests of the masses. They also called for a united struggle of all the democratic and progressive forces against the anti-people policies of the government.
