Srinagar:
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said that the first Union budget of the NDA government that was presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley yesterday will fail to bring "acche din" (good times) for the country.
"We do not see 'acche din' (good times) yet. And the way monsoon has played, we should not expect 'acche din' sometime soon. They (BJP) talked about 'acche din' before the elections, but after winning the elections, they said they will have to give us a bitter-pill first to achieve 'acche din'.
"But this budget neither talks about 'acche din' nor has it given us a feeling of that bitter-pill. (However), it has not been even two months yet. Let some time pass then we will see," Mr Abdullah told reporters here.
Referring to the Finance Minister's announcement for allocation of Rs 200 crore for upgrading indoor and outdoor stadiums to international standards in Jammu and in Kashmir Valley, the chief minister said there were one or two things which the state was expecting from the budget, especially those related to the
youth.
.
"When the finance minister was here on his first visit and I met him, I had asked him for a package on sports infrastructure and which he has accepted," he said. "He (Jaitley) had talked about a hospital on the pattern of AIIMS. I had told him that we have super-speciality hospitals at both places - Jammu and Srinagar. I had said that rather than building a new hospital, give us a package to upgrade the two hospitals on AIIMS pattern.
"We have not heard anything on that yet. We hope that when the Finance Minister has talked about AIIMS-pattern hospitals, our two hospitals will also be included," he said.
Referring to the Rs 500 crore package for displaced Kashmiri migrants in the Union budget announced yesterday, the Chief Minister said he would like to know the fine prints of the package because there already was a package and the state had asked for its upgradation because the amount earmarked earlier was less.
"If these Rs 500 crores have been earmarked under a new package, then it is a good thing and I hope our migrants take advantage of it. But if it is on the past pattern, then I am sorry, this package would not benefit us," he said.
"We do not see 'acche din' (good times) yet. And the way monsoon has played, we should not expect 'acche din' sometime soon. They (BJP) talked about 'acche din' before the elections, but after winning the elections, they said they will have to give us a bitter-pill first to achieve 'acche din'.
"But this budget neither talks about 'acche din' nor has it given us a feeling of that bitter-pill. (However), it has not been even two months yet. Let some time pass then we will see," Mr Abdullah told reporters here.
Referring to the Finance Minister's announcement for allocation of Rs 200 crore for upgrading indoor and outdoor stadiums to international standards in Jammu and in Kashmir Valley, the chief minister said there were one or two things which the state was expecting from the budget, especially those related to the
youth.
.
"When the finance minister was here on his first visit and I met him, I had asked him for a package on sports infrastructure and which he has accepted," he said. "He (Jaitley) had talked about a hospital on the pattern of AIIMS. I had told him that we have super-speciality hospitals at both places - Jammu and Srinagar. I had said that rather than building a new hospital, give us a package to upgrade the two hospitals on AIIMS pattern.
"We have not heard anything on that yet. We hope that when the Finance Minister has talked about AIIMS-pattern hospitals, our two hospitals will also be included," he said.
Referring to the Rs 500 crore package for displaced Kashmiri migrants in the Union budget announced yesterday, the Chief Minister said he would like to know the fine prints of the package because there already was a package and the state had asked for its upgradation because the amount earmarked earlier was less.
"If these Rs 500 crores have been earmarked under a new package, then it is a good thing and I hope our migrants take advantage of it. But if it is on the past pattern, then I am sorry, this package would not benefit us," he said.
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