New Delhi, Feb 1 (IANS): Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has expressed his displeasure over the Union Budget 2021-2022 presented on Monday by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Sisodia stated that due to the Covid-19 pandemic that has exposed the poor public health care system of the country, it was expected the government would substantially increase the health care allocation in this year's Budget. He claimed that the Centre has reduced the health care budget instead.

The Minister further slammed the BJP-led Central Government alleging that it has bypassed the education and health sectors in this year's budget. "Covid-19 pandemic has led to a serious setback in our education system and therefore children should have provided additional allocation in education to take care of this loss. What we see is a reduction in the Ministry of Education budget by 6% (Rs 6000 Cr) - from Rs 99,312 Cr in BE 2020-21 to Rs 93,224 Cr in BE 2021-22," Sisodia claimed in a statement issued by his office.

He added, "The Finance Minister's announcement of a 137% increase in budget for healthcare and well-being is misleading and is an attempt to hide the reality that this government doesn't care for the health of the people. It has clubbed non-health schemes like clean air programme, water supply programme etc to show an overall increase in health expenditure."

Sisodia also slammed the Centre for reducing Agriculture Ministry's budget from Rs 1.55 lakh crore to Rs 1.48 lakh crore. "A time when unemployment is at its highest, the budget for jobs and skills ministry has also been reduced from Rs 5,400 crore to 3,500 crore, a reduction of 35%. It shows the government is completely apathetic towards the pain of the jobless," he added.