The message from the Union Budget 2021-22 is clear — Credit, Corporatisation and Disinvestment. Rahul Gandhi promptly tweeted “crony capitalism” while the protesting farmers fulminated over an “empty Budget” as the share of agriculture and allied activities in the total Budget came down from 5.1 per cent to 4.3 per cent. The allocation fell from Rs 1.54 lakh crore to Rs 1.48 lakh crore. Even agricultural neo-con economists are finding it hard to defend Union Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman’s agenda.
