Siliguri, June 11 -- In a sharp swipe at the previous regime, West Bengal Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta on Thursday asserted that the state's first BJP government would prepare its budget through direct consultation with people and stakeholders rather than "on a treadmill".
Promising a business-friendly and development-oriented fiscal roadmap, he said the forthcoming budget would seek to end the long-standing perception that North Bengal has remained neglected despite its immense economic potential.
Addressing journalists after a pre-budget consultation meeting with stakeholders at the North Bengal secretariat Uttarkanya, Dasgupta said the BJP-led "double-engine government" was treating the budget-making exercise with utmost seriousnes...