It is a UDF Budget: Mani

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Finance Minister K M Mani has claimed that the 2012-13 state budget presented by him in the Assembly on Monday was a budget of the UDF as a whole.‘’There is no need to single me out on the issue of raising the retirement age to 56 years as the budget is a UDF budget,’’ Mani told mediapersons at a meet the press programme conducted by the Kesari Journalists Trust here on Tuesday. ‘’The budget contains UDF policies and the budget was discussed in various committees of UDF,’’  he claimed. However, he added that raising of the retirement age had been made inevitable by the policies of the former Finance Minister Thomas Isaac as the state was in a difficult financial position. While stating that no one will lose their job due to the raising of the retirement age, Mani said that the government was trying to create a package to address the situation. ‘’There will be various voices in a party or front. So there is nothing wrong in the apprehensions raised by Youth Congress. A section wants to create the impression as if the sky is going to fall down,’’  Mani said, referring to dissent by the youth organisations over the retirement age issue. He said the current budget seeks to create maximum employment opportunities and ease the problem of unemployment. ‘’Among the ten budgets I presented, this one gives me maximum satisfaction,’’ he said.