New Delhi: Congress on Sunday stated the Union Price range was “blind to India’s actual disaster” and accused the federal government of ignoring challenges recognized within the Financial Survey, which confirmed cuts in key social and growth spending.
“Younger folks out of labor. Manufacturing in decline. Buyers withdrawing funds. Family financial savings plummeting. Farmers in misery. A looming world shock — all ignored. A finances that refuses to get again on observe and is blind to India’s actual disaster,” Rahul Gandhi, chief of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, wrote in X.
Congress chief and Chief of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharji alleged that the Middle has failed to deal with the essential financial challenges dealing with the nation, supplied no aid to the weak sections of the society and supplied no answer to unemployment.
“The Modi authorities has run out of latest concepts. This Price range raises extra questions than solutions about India’s essential financial, social and political challenges. It has supplied nothing for the poor. They haven’t supplied any options, optimistic proposals or concrete steps to curb inflation,” Kharge stated.
The Congress chief additional added, “Whereas the Financial Survey reveals that commerce uncertainty is a serious problem for India, the Price range makes little acknowledgment of this difficulty. Equally, there is no such thing as a plan to deal with the autumn within the worth of the rupee…The Price range reveals no intention to revive client demand. It additionally ignores the decline in home financial savings and rising private debt burden.”
“Inequalities are past the degrees seen throughout the British Raj. However the Price range doesn’t even point out it. It additionally doesn’t make any provision for help to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, different backward courses, economically weaker sections or minorities,” Kharge added.
Former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram instructed a press convention that the Price range speech had stunned “each commentator, author and economist who got here earlier than the Price range” and claimed that the federal government appeared to have “utterly scrapped” the 2025-26 Financial Survey launched on February 29.
“If the federal government had learn the financial survey, it appears to have ignored it and gone again to its favourite pastime of throwing phrases, often abbreviations, at folks,” Chidambaram stated.
Chidambaram stated points not addressed within the finances speech included stress on exporters on account of US-imposed fines, continued world commerce tensions weighing on funding, widening commerce deficit with China, and low gross fastened capital formation of round 30% reflecting non-public sector reluctance to take a position.
“Our verdict is that the Price range Speech and Price range failed to check financial technique and financial statesmanship,” he stated.
He additionally pointed to uncertainties reminiscent of inflows of international direct funding, sustained outflows of international portfolio investments, the sluggish tempo of fiscal consolidation with continued excessive fiscal and income deficits in violation of fiscal accountability and finances administration (FRBM) targets, and a widening hole between official inflation statistics and the “actuality of family spending.”
On monetary administration, Chidambaram stated the federal government’s efficiency in 2025-26 was poor even by “accountant requirements”. He identified that income expenditure decreased by Rs 75,168 crore and capital expenditure was lowered by Rs 1,44,376 crore, leading to a shortfall in income of Rs 78,086 crore and whole expenditure of Rs 1,05,030 crore. Of this, the Middle’s capital expenditure was lowered by Rs 25,335 crore and the states’ capital expenditure was lowered by Rs 1,19,041 crore.
He stated the Centre’s capital expenditure had declined from 3.2 per cent of gross home product (GDP) in 2024-25 to three.1 per cent of gross home product (GDP) in 2025-26, though there was no clarification within the finances speech.
He additional claimed that the cuts in income expenditure had an undue affect on sectors that have an effect on most of the people, reminiscent of rural growth, city growth, social welfare, agriculture, training and well being. He additionally warned of a pointy reduce within the allocation for JAL Jeevan Mission from the revised estimate of Rs 67,000 crore to Rs 17,000 crore.
“It has elevated to Rs 67,670 crore in 2026-27, however what credibility does this determine have?” requested Chidambaram.
Congress chief Shashi Tharoor criticized the Union Price range for excluding Kerala from new high-speed rail corridors introduced throughout India.
Whereas the announcement that seven new high-speed rail corridors can be constructed throughout India is welcome for Indians, the blatant exclusion of Kerala is indefensible. We’re a high-density state in determined want of recent transportation. The Middle ignores us and the state proposes tasks on paper that can’t be finished…
— Shachi Tharoor (@ShachiTharoor) February 1, 2026
“Whereas the announcement of seven new high-speed rail corridors throughout India is welcome for the nation, the blatant exclusion of Kerala is indefensible. We’re a high-density state crying out for contemporary transportation…We’d like actual trains, not new acronyms,” Tharoor added in a put up on X.
(Edited by Vinny Mishra)
Additionally learn: Federal finances: Most cancers medicine and photo voltaic panels will develop into cheaper. Seafood exporters profit
