Mumbai: Maharashtra Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar on Thursday said the Union Budget gives priority to balanced development of rural and urban areas and encourages employment creation in health and agriculture sectors.
The budget presented by Arun Jaitley today also paid heed to transportation needs of Mumbai, he pointed out.
"This Budget will ensure balanced development of the nation while at the same time it has specifically focused on the agriculture sector," Mungantiwar said in a statement.
School Education Minister Vinod Tawde termed the budget as one that will strengthen and improve the standard of education.
"There is positive allocation and emphasis on digital education and it also includes steps for teachers training. The budget also has a new scheme for encouraging research by students in higher and technical courses," he said.
However, senior Shiv Sena spokesperson and MLC Neelam Gorhe said the allocation for the five flagship programs for women is inadequate.
There is no scheme for infrastructure facilities for women's security and assistance services, she said.
"Women are disappointed as inflation has not come down," she added.
Gorhe further said that although the announcement of paying one and half times the production cost as the minimum support price (MSP) to farmers, a question mark hangs over the decision given the scourge of hoarding and collusion between vested interest.
