Old wine in new bottle — Technopark employees summed up the Union Budget thus. In the midst of their work, some of them managed to catch glimpses of his speech and a preliminary evaluation evoked worries about some of the actions of the newly elected government.
“If this is the first major step of this government, then I think we have reason to be concerned. For one, it seems to lack any vision,” said Dipin Varghese, Systems Engineer at Infosys here.
He said the change in governance could be felt in the naming of already established schemes.
“They named schemes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme after right-wing leaders. Why?,” he asked. Mr. Varghese is quick to add that the allocation for the farm sector and the ‘Smart Cities’ programme is impressive.
Sudheer Krishnan, a delivery manager at TATA Elxsi, was relieved by the income tax exemption clause, among the first provisions he and his colleagues checked out. “This is like a pay hike.”
Rina Vivekanandan, CEO of Sinura Health Information Process Solutions, feels that this budget is the exact boost that the sluggish economy needed. Its priorities on growth and job creation are clear, she said, particularly impressed by the moves to nurture start-ups.