Budget lacks flavour: Jayalalithaa

Chennai, Feb 29  Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J.Jayalalithaa on Monday said some of the schemes announced by union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley have been implemented in the state and his budget for 2016-17 lacks flavour.

In a statement issued here, Jayalalithaa said: "The Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadi Yojana under which 3, 000 new medical stores selling generic medicines are to be set up is also very similar to the Amma Marunthagam (medical shops) Scheme launched by my Government."

Similarly she said the health insurance scheme announced by Jaitley in his budget speech is very similar to the Chief Minister's Comprehensive Health Insurance scheme which she had launched in Tamil Nadu in 2011.

However on the whole Jayalalithaa expressed her disappointment with the 2016-17 union budget.

"This budget lacks flavour as it does not have any specific announcements of schemes which would have enthused different segments including the states," she said.

"It also does not speak of the status of implementation of many schemes announced last year and the year before. The people of the state of Tamil Nadu had still higher expectations, which have not been met," she said.

Jayalalithaa also expressed her concern on the proposal to privatise road transport sector through a central legislation by amending the Motor Vehicles Act.

"We have been consistently opposed to encroachment of powers of state governments by this proposed legislation," she said.

According to her, the central government's proposal to permit 100 per cent FDI for marketing food products produced in India, appears to be a backdoor entry for FDI in retail to which she is consistently opposed to.