Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of Bihar, slammed the Union Budget on Thursday, claiming that nothing had been done in the “benefit of the people.” He continued by saying that the administration has taken no action to help underdeveloped states like Bihar. He criticised the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) for receiving less funding than expected and stated, “There was a provision of Rs 73,000 Cr in MNREGA in 22-23 but it has been reduced to Rs 60,000 Cr.” “The budget of PM Kisan Samman Nidhi also decreased,” he added.

The MGNREGS received an allocation of Rs 60,000 crore in the Union Budget, which was announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday. This is less than the budgetary projection of Rs 73,000 crore for 2022–2023. When compared to the updated projection of Rs 89,400 crore for the current fiscal year, the decline is more pronounced. The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman will get the lowest amount of funding in the previous five years from the Centre in 2023–24: Rs 60,000. In actuality, the budgeted forecast for the fiscal year 2022–2023, which was Rs. 68,000 crore, is 13.33 percent more than the allotment.

Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of Bihar, stated a few days ago that he had high hopes for the Union Budget 2023 and that initiatives should be taken to advance a state with such a low level of development as Bihar. The CM remarked in a press conference: “Everybody has put forward their points during the centre’s meeting with the states. Efforts should be made for the progress of a backward state like Bihar. All types of developments should take place. I have expectations in this regard.”