The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has declared the organization of Thanksgiving rallies across Tripura on July 10 to celebrate the presentation of a budget that is being hailed as “pro-people” for the current fiscal year.
Tripura Finance Minister Pranajit Singha Roy introduced the budget, which includes various initiatives aimed at benefiting marginalized sections of society and promoting development in the state.
With a budget size of Rs 27,654 crore, the proposal encompasses a range of welfare programmes, such as a health insurance scheme for marginalized sections and a programme providing free scooters to meritorious girl students. The BJP’s state president, Rajib Bhattacharjee, praised the budget during a press conference, emphasizing its alignment with the party’s vision of making “Ek Tripura Shrestha Tripura” (one Tripura, best Tripura).
One notable highlight of the budget is the introduction of the Chief Minister Jan Arogya Yojana-2023, a health insurance plan similar to the central government’s Ayushman Bharat scheme. The plan aims to provide health insurance benefits of up to Rs. 5 lakh annually to families not covered by Ayushman Bharat.
During the press conference, Bhattacharjee also criticized opposition MLAs for disrupting the budget session in the Assembly on July 7th, arguing that their actions undermined the sanctity of the legislative body. As a consequence of the uproar, five MLAs were temporarily suspended but later had their suspension revoked upon the request of Chief Minister Manik Saha.
However, opposition members staged a second walkout when the Speaker refused to take action against a ruling party MLA who had been accused of inappropriate behavior during the previous session.
Former Chief Minister Manik Sarkar expressed reservations about the budget’s effectiveness, citing concerns about the state’s debt burden, salary and pension issues, shortages of teaching staff in educational institutions, and inconsistent power supply.
The Leader of Opposition and Tipra Motha MLA, Animesh Debbarma, also criticized the budget for not adequately addressing the needs of job seekers and failing to outline a comprehensive development plan for rural areas.
