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JAMMU: The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference Provincial President for Jammu, Rattan Lal Gupta, on Tuesday strongly criticised the Union Budget 2026–27, stating that it completely ignores the pressing challenges faced by Jammu and Kashmir, especially rising unemployment and the long-standing development deficit in the region. There is nothing for middle class people, no enhancement in the basic exemption limit of Income Tax Slab.
In his reaction to the Budget, Gupta said that the much-publicised allocations are merely a repackaging of funds under centrally sponsored schemes and do not include any meaningful or special financial package for Jammu and Kashmir to address unemployment or accelerate development. He described the additional ₹2,000 crore allocation as wholly insufficient to rescue the region from the crisis caused by what he termed the “misgovernance of successive BJP and PDP regimes.”
Expressing disappointment, Gupta said that the Jammu region, which suffered extensive infrastructural and economic losses due to devastating flash floods, cloud bursts and landslides, was denied a comprehensive rehabilitation and reconstruction package. Instead of providing the required financial support, the elected government was handed peanuts to deal with an extraordinary situation, he remarked.
He further accused the local BJP leadership in Jammu of failing to secure any major financial assistance for the region, despite repeatedly projecting itself as Jammu’s sole messiah. Gupta noted that the Budget made no substantial provision for addressing critical issues such as lifting water from the Chenab River and extending the Ranbir Canal, both of which are vital for the region’s agricultural and drinking water needs. Likewise nothing mentioned about Ravi Tawi Irrigation Project of Ranjeet Dam.
Terming the Budget as anti-poor and disconnected from the country’s economic realities, Gupta said it offers no relief to workers, farmers, or the unemployed, while continuing to favour big corporate interests. He alleged that the BJP-led government’s policies reflect a blind commitment to a select few corporate houses. There is no mention of MGNREGA liabilities which payable to the poor for their work done as labour.
Gupta also criticised the reduction in fertiliser, food, and petroleum subsidies, calling it a direct assault on workers and farmers. He warned that a sharp decline in transfers to states, amounting to lakhs of crores, threatens the principles of fiscal federalism. According to him, the Union Budget will further widen economic inequality and aggravate the ongoing economic crisis.
