Joint Statement by Central Trade Unions on the 2025-2026 Budget

Press Statement

The following statement was released to the press by the platform of Central Trade Unions and independent Sectoral Federations/Associations on Budget 2025-2026 presented by the finance minister Ms Nirmala Sitharaman.

• Pro-corporate Budget 2025-2026, shattering hopes of workers, farmers, unemployed youth, students and women
• No relief from price rise of essential commodities
• Job losses and jobless growth is the main direction.
• Trade Unions to organise Nationwide Protest on 5th February

The Budget 2025-2026 has once again treaded the path to the advantage of big business corporate houses, fails to address the unprecedented unemployment situation, aggravating agrarian crises, uncontrolled inflation resulting in rising prices of essential commodities, continuity of polices of privatisation and sale of Public Sector enterprises and Public services, less budget to education and health making it difficult to access by the poor, marginal, lower income groups as well as middle classes.

The announcement of 100 percent FDI in insurance sector would be damaging not only to our common people and the farmers but to the country’s economy as well. The policy of handing over public sector enterprises and public infrastructure to the corporates through the policy of National Monetisation Pipeline to continue aggressively.

The policies of the Union government have resulted in the increase of inequalities and this budget will ensure that trajectory to continue. Once again announcement is made of another set of schemes whereas the track record of this government has been to announce schemes and never inform the nation what happened to the implementation of the same.