Shimla, Feb 28 (IANS) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh Saturday said the union budget has axed the aspirations of the common man and was meant for corporate houses.
Terming it disappointing and disheartening, he said it was a budget of promises in which the interests of the ordinary people had been completely ignored.
“The budget has imposed additional taxes of Rs.22,000 crore which will be a heavy burden on the common man while benefits of Rs.8,000 crore have been given to corporate houses,” he said in a statement.
He, however, hailed the announcement that an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) would be set up in the state and that the budgetary provision for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) would go up.
But the rise in service tax from 12.36 to 14 percent would push up prices of commodities, he warned.
Raising the education cess would also affect the people, he said.
“The salaried class was hoping for an increase in the income tax slab but it has been untouched,” he said, adding this would force the middle and salaried class to save less.