Modi Presents Budget; Opposition Stages Walk-outs
Patna: February 25, 2008
 Sushil Kumar Modi, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister/Finance Minister on Monday presented the NDA government's 2008-09 state budged amidst boycott by the opposition leaders who called the entire budget anti-poor and anti-farmers while demanding the resignation of the Nitish government for letting the criminals take over the state.
With a total revenue surplus of Rs. 4,613 crore, the budget showers concessions to farmers and small-scale industry owners including relaxing or eliminating taxes on items like handmade soaps, bidis, cups and plates made of leaves ('pattals'), auto parts, dairy products and dry fruits.
 "Improvement in the agricultural sector is our prime focus with a goal of 4 to 6 percent annual growth in it," Modi said adding there was a 43 percent increase in the farming, agricultural, and dairy provisions.
The budget also proposes a 7-year moratorium on hotel luxury tax to promote tourism and hospitality industry in the state.
Special emphasis has been given to education, health, and road construction in Bihar - the latter claiming a budget of Rs. 10,000 crore all by itself.. With Rs. 6,400 crore on education, an increase of 15 percent over last year's budget, and Rs. 1,417 crore on health care, an increase of 29 percent, the government is sending a message that it is serious about issues that affect the people of Bihar most, the Deputy Chief Minister said.
 The event, however, was not without the usual disruption that the Bihar Assembly is infamous for.
Forgetting that it was a budget session and not just another ho-hum day at the Vidhan Sabha, the opposition leaders shouted anti-NDA government slogans demanding its resignation for failing to check crime in the state.
Demanding a CBI enquiry into the killing of Bhagalpur RJD leader a couple of days ago, the opposition leaders refused to listen to Modi's deliverance of the 2008-09 budget who apparently chose to shut them off from his mind and continued to proceed with his presentation despite frequent attempts to disrupt him.
As a sideshow to the entire budget saga, Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Rameshwar Chaurasia arrived at the State Assembly on a bicycle as a mark of protest against skyrocketing prices of petroleum products under the UPA government.
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