Union Budget ignored flood, over 60,000 people displaced in Manipur violence: Congress

Imphal, July 23 (IANS) Manipur’s opposition Congress on Tuesday alleged that the Union Budget 2024-25 ignored the plight of the state, which not only suffered major floods recently but was also devastated due to the over-year-long ethnic violence. Alleging a partisan approach in the Budget, presented in the Lok Sabha by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Manipur state Congress President K. Meghachandra Singh said that the entire northeast as well as Manipur was once again neglected.He said that the Finance Minister assured to provide financial assistance to flood-hit Assam but Manipur, despite witnessing a catastrophic hailstorm and two successive floods for the first time in over 20 years, was not even mentioned in her budget speech.”Not providing any aid to over 60,000 people, displaced due to the ethnic violence is a part of the Centre’s apathetic attitude towards Manipur,” the Congress leader told the media expressing his strong disappointment.Congress leader and lawyer Ningombam Bupenda Meitei said that the people of Manipur expected a special package of Rs 10,000 crore in the Union Budget for the state as it has been in turmoil for more than 14 months. “But, it didn’t happen and left the hapless Manipur people frustrated,” he said.The ruling BJP in the state, however, hailed the Budget, and said that it reflected the holistic and inclusive development of all citizens. State BJP spokesperson M Asnikumar said that to attain inclusive social justice, all eligible individuals are covered in the budget by various programmes, including those for education and health. He said that the budget proposes to allocate Rs 2 lakh crore for job creation during the next five years besides announcing a new employment skilling scheme.–IANSsc/vd