As the Gujarat government presented its biggest budget in the Assembly on Feb 2, Congress leader and MLA Amit Chavda expressed his disappointment with regard to allocation to reservations.

Reacting to the Gujarat Budget 2024, the leader of opposition said that despite the government's increased income, the public did not get any kind of incentive.

“People desired that their two major problems, inflation and unemployment, would get a solution this time, but all their hopes were ignored,” said Chavda, addressing a press conference.

Even the public did not get any subsidies for LPG gas cylinder rates, which were expected to be ₹450 per cylinder.

“Lakhs of unemployed youth are waiting for the vacancies, but there is a lack of consideration for the same in the budget,” he added.

Regarding government employees, he said that the government has failed to make any provisions for the old pension scheme in this budget.

Though the state’s income has increased, the government’s programmes and functions went up, but the public did not get any relief, and on the contrary, debt has increased, said the leader of opposition.

Asserting through numbers, Chavda said that the state’s debt was ₹3,77,362 cr in 2023-24 and ₹25,212 cr interest was paid on it.

According to him, as per the estimation of 2024-25, the state’s debt will increase to ₹4,26,380 cr, which is ₹50,000 cr more debt than last year. The estimated interest will be ₹35,000 cr.

“Though SC, ST, OBCs, and minorities form nearly 82% of Gujarat’s population, this government allocated just ₹250 cr, and ₹600 cr were allocated to non-reservations. The government is doing injustice to reservations and minorities,” said Chavda.

Notably, ahead of the presentation of the budget, Congress leaders staged a protest outside the Assembly building. 13 of the 15 MLAs of the Congress reached the Aassembly wearing banners with various slogans, including some pointing out rising inflation, under the leadership of MLA Amit Chavda.

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