Gandhinagar, Feb 12(PTI) The opposition Congress on Monday termed the BJP government in Gujarat as “anti OBC” for allegedly allocating less than 1 per cent of the 2024-25 budget outlay for the segment that represents 52 per cent of the state’s population.
Speaking in the Assembly during the general discussion on the state budget, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Amit Chavda demanded caste census in Gujarat so that OBCs get their due share.
“Recently, there was a controversy about whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi belongs to the OBC category or not. I don’t want to go into that. But, I want to say the BJP government’s policies have been anti-OBC ever since Modi was the chief minister. As per official figures, you have allocated only Rs 2,900 crore for the welfare of OBCs out of your total budget of Rs 3.32 lakh crore for the year 2024-25,” Chavda told the House.
“You allocated Rs 2,900 crore for 52 per cent of the population. This is not even 1 percent of the total budget. And then you boast that the PM is an OBC. He is not interested in the welfare of OBCs. The only solution is to conduct a caste census,” the senior Congress MLA said.
Chavda also questioned the budgetary allocation for the rural areas claiming people are “breaking apart” because of government apathy.
He also took a swipe at Gujarat BJP’s ‘Gaon Chalo’ campaign, under which Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel stayed overnight at a village in Banaskantha district on Sunday.
“You remember villages only when you want votes. But, you forget them while allocating funds in the budget. The BJP government had in the past launched the Rurban project with much fanfare to provide various city-like facilities to villages. What happened to it? How many villages have facilities like urban centres?” he asked.
The state government should stop people from migrating to cities from villages because that will create other issues, such as traffic congestion, residential crisis and rise in crimes, Chavda said.
“This government has once again done injustice to villages. Of the total allocation, only 2.9 per cent has been given for rural development. This is less than the national average of 5 per cent. Villages are breaking apart because of very less allocation of grants. People are migrating because there are no basic facilities such as schools, sanitation and good roads in villages,” he claimed.
Responding to Chavda, Minister of State for Rural Development Kunvarji Halpati said the budget has been prepared keeping in mind every section of the society.
“In this budget, a provision of Rs 3,092.58 crore has been made to improve the quality of life of the people living in the rural areas. Adequate provisions have been made for providing basic facilities like sanitation, water, housing and also for proper management of rural resources,” said Halpati, who also handles Tribal Development portfolio.
The budget has been prepared on five key pillars – social security, human resource development, infrastructural facilities, development of economic activities and green growth, Halpati added. PTI PJT BNM
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