KARACHI, June 8: The central leader of PPP, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, has termed the federal budget 2003-04 anti-people and the budget for the rich people, which would hardly benefit the poor.

Expressing his views on the budget, the leader said that the GDP rate was inflated and pointed out that there was 15 per cent increase in the pay of government employees, but there was no raise in the salaries of working class, who deserved minimum 30 per cent increase in their salaries.

During the last fiscal ending on June 30, 2003 no benefit was passed on to the common man, he said adding that thousands of workers are being retrenched, nobody had cared for the tillers and the lower middle class was the worst sufferer.

He said that if the economy had improved during the last fiscal, why people were thrown out of jobs and why people were forced to commit suicide. “The poverty level is touching 37 per cent and if the economy has improved, its level would have not reached 37 per cent, he added.

Regarding agriculture sector, which is the backbone of the economy, he said the sector was almost ignored as no incentive was provided and there was no provision in the budget to improve the condition of common man.

Commenting on the budget, the central vice-president of All Pakistan Trade Unions Organizations, Habibuddin Junedi, said that the budget would increase the gap between the poor and rich.

He said reduction in duty on big cars and enforcement of 20 per cent sales tax on edible oil showed the mentality of the budget drafters.

He said that 15 per cent raise in the salaries of government employees would become meaningless by income tax slab while there was no consideration of millions of people working in the private sector.

Meanwhile, the Information Secretary of National Peoples Party, Syed Zia Abbas said that in the presence of challenges being faced by Pakistan, the government presented a good budget. The most redeeming aspect of the budget was the incentives provided to the private sector, which would help in tackling the unemployment issue, he added.

The Nazim of Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba Karachi, Monem Zafar Khan, while commenting on the federal budget, said that the government had totally ignored the education sector as the allocated funds in the budget for education were insignificant, adds PPI.

He said that commitment and sincerity towards the cause of education were reflected in the budget. He said that the present government had given a step-motherly treatment to education.

He regretted the government had established its anti-education policies by making scanty allocation for education in the proposed budget for financial year 2003-04.