Thiruvananthapuram: Both the ruling Left and the opposition Congress in Kerala on Wednesday dubbed the Union Budget 2017-18 as "disappointing and lacklustre".
In a statement issued here, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said there is nothing in the budget to redress the woes of demonetization.
"Kerala submitted a list as part of the pre-budget exercise but nothing was looked into. The cooperative banking sector had taken a beating on account of restrictions imposed due to demonetization. We expected some relief in the cooperative banking sector but nothing has been done," said Vijayan.
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He said the allocation under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act is "appallingly poor" and will not be enough to provide jobs even for 40 days in a year.
Echoing the CM's views, state finance minister Thomas Isaac said Kerala was absolutely ignored in the budget. He said the non-allocation of adequate funds will affect the economy of the state which is about to present the budget. He said farmers were not given due consideration in the budget.
State Congress president V.M. Sudheeran said the budget has nothing to cheer Kerala.
"The long-standing demand for an All India Institute of Medical Sciences in our state has not materialized; likewise, railway needs of Kerala have also been left unattended. There is nothing to revive banking sector that was badly affected by demonetization. Overall it's disappointing," said Sudheeran.
However, Jaitley has provided funds to the Spices Board, Tea Board, Rubber Board, Coffee Board and Cochin Shipyard.