Issues such as air pollution, jobs, health care ignored, says Oppn.

The Opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress issued sharp responses to the Union Budget, criticising the Centre for ignoring issues such as air pollution, unemployment and inflation.

“Today, the biggest problems for young people are unemployment and inflation. There is no concrete blueprint for creating jobs, and this budget will only increase inflation,” said AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal.

Senior AAP leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh said Prime Minister Narendra Modi must give an account of the jobs created by the Centre during his tenure.

The Congress said the Budget did not reflect sensitivity towards the city residents, who suffer from poor-quality air throughout the year.

Delhi Congress president Devender Yadav said while Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented a vision of a “bright future” for the Capital, she avoided the challenges before the city today.

“The Budget does not focus on employment generation, opportunities for the youth, controlling inflation, or increasing the means of livelihood,” said Mr. Yadav. He added that the Minister had made no specific allocation or shared a concrete plan for cleaning the Yamuna river, improving sewerage, or controlling pollution.

“The Budget does not show any initiative towards making Delhi a developed Capital,” he said.

The Congress leader added, “Chief Minister Rekha Gupta spoke mainly about the ₹1.4 lakh crore allocation for capital expenditure support to States because she knows that the Centre has not given anything special to Delhi.”

(With inputs from PTI)