The Modi government’s first full-fledged budget has disappointed the middle class, as it has left tax slabs untouched and enhanced service tax from the existing 12.36 per cent to a consolidated 14 per cent.
“The budget shines a spotlight on the macro sector, identifying infrastructure funding as a thrust area, leaving aside the key micro aspects. To a middle class housewife like me, it is more or less a break-even budget, focusing on growth rate,” said P.V. Radhika, a housewife from Mogulrajpuram.
“As a woman, I do feel happy about the ‘Sukanya Samridhi Yojana’, a special deposit scheme that allows enhanced interest rate on the money deposited in the name of the girl child,” she added.
“Barring the increase in service tax rate, there is not much change in the budget, which is more or less an extension of last year’s exercise,” said Poonam Raj, a housewife from Brundavan Colony.
“When infrastructure-funding becomes a priority area, there is bound to be an increase in fiscal deficit. Striking a fine balance between the two aspects will be a major challenge for the government,” said Ms. Radhika, a P.hd in Commerce. On taxes, she said not much was expected, as the tax structure was revised just 10 months ago.
There were also conflicting views on the BJP’s catch phrase ‘achche din’.
Some said ‘nothing remarkable’ about the budget, while others seemed willing to wait for long-term benefits.
To a middle class housewife like me, it is more or less a break-even one, focusing on growth rate.
P.V. Radhika,Housewife, Mogulrajpuram
