Bhopal, Mar 12 (PTI) The opposition Congress on Wednesday termed the state’s budget full of “empty promises” and accused the BJP government of keeping silent on increasing the aid under the popular Ladli Behna scheme.

Former chief minister Kamal Nath, state Congress president Jitu Patwari and assembly leader of opposition Umang Singhar slammed the budget over jobs, and debt and alleged that the budget ignored farmers' interests.

Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Jagdish Devda presented a Rs 4.21 lakh crore budget for 2025-26 with no new taxes while announcing new schemes for the development of religious sites. The outlay is 15 per cent more compared to the last fiscal.

Though this was the second budget of the BJP government, the poll promises made by the party have not been fulfilled yet, Nath said in a statement.

The Congress leader said the sisters in the state have been waiting for the monthly assistance under the Ladli Behna programme to be raised from Rs 1,250 to Rs 3,000 but the government did not say a word about this election promise.

The number of Ladli Behna beneficiaries has been decreasing since the formation of the present government, he alleged. Under the Kanya Vivah Yojana, the number of beneficiaries has also decreased by 77 per cent in 2024-25 compared to 2023-24, he said.

While farmers were hoping that a minimum support price of Rs 2,700 and Rs 3,100 per quintal would be announced for wheat and paddy, respectively, in line with the BJP’s election manifesto, the finance minister did not say a word about this either, alleged Nath.

Farmers in MP are struggling with the crises concerning fertilisers, seeds, electricity and water, but no step has been taken through the budget in this direction, he said.

State Congress president and former minister Jitu Patwari called it a “deceptive” budget.

“There is no concrete plan for development in this budget. Rather, it has been prepared to increase debt, institutionalise commissions and strengthen corruption. This budget exposes the failures and anti-people policies of the BJP government,” Patwari said in a statement.

Through this budget, the government has once again increased the debt limit, he said. The state is already in heavy debt, but the government is only concerned about corruption and commission.

The BJP government has promised 3 lakh jobs in 39 new industrial areas, but thousands of posts are lying vacant in government departments, he claimed. This is the same false promise that is made in every budget, he said.

He also targeted the ruling party over its promise to raise the Ladli Behna amount. “The real face of the BJP government has now come to the fore,” he said, adding that the budget offers no relief to farmers.

Leader of opposition Singhar said the budget will put a burden of more than Rs 50,000 on every person in the state. “The government is repaying debt by taking loans,” he said in a media release.

He said the finance minister showed the sky and dreams to the people, but the government has no clear answer as to when these dreams would be fulfilled.

The Congress leader also targeted the government over the announcement that 100 tribal villages would be given solar energy. “Is the government only seeing 100 villages, what will happen to the rest,” asked the tribal leader.

Questioning the allocation of Rs 30 crore for ‘Ram Path Gaman’, he said the BJP wants to take votes in the name of Ram but does not want to do anything for his path. Singhar also attacked the government for not hiking the Ladli Behna aid and claimed that the number of beneficiaries has been reduced by more than 3 lakh.

Kamlakar Singh, former vice chancellor of Bhoj Open University, said the allocation for the higher education sector is about 4 per cent more this time but the question is whether it will be enough considering the quality and inclusiveness required for higher education.

The vacancies of academic posts in colleges and universities remain a serious problem. More than half of the posts are currently vacant in many institutions, which should be filled immediately, he said. PTI MAS NR