In less than 48 hours, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will present his third Budget in Parliament. Ahead of the annual exercise, The Hindu conducted a survey to capture the mood of the common man and industry.
The survey, which elicited nearly 1,500 responses, was conducted over a span of five days. The questions were divided into four parts — personal finance, welfare measures, economy and railways. The participants could select only one of the options in a subset, a move aimed at identifying the most important or sought after move during the exercise.
Most of the responses were centred around the demonetisation of Rs. 1,000 and old Rs. 500 notes and its fallout. A revision of income tax slabs; a clear focus on agricultural, education and health care sectors; and improving safety and cleanliness aspects of rail travel were among the top responses.
Here are the findings:
Nearly two-thirds of those who participated in the survey said they were looking forward to an increase in income tax exemption limit. ‘Incentives for cashless transactions’ came second, with nearly 20% votes, and service tax rates cut stood third at 16%. Many strongly voiced their opposition to the the additional expenses involved in cashless transactions, like charges imposed on online transactions and withdrawals at ATMs. There were also multiple requests for the revision of tax slabs pertaining to senior citizens and super senior citizens (above 80 years).
In the second part of the survey, titled ‘welfare measures’, there was an overwhelming majority requesting the government to focus on agriculture, education and health care. About 75% of the respondents said they were looking forward to a Budget that focuses on these welfare measures. At 17 %, ‘Human resource development’ came second.
Among the specifics in the category, many were keen on streamlining the prices of medicines and medical equipment. Expediting solutions to water sharing disputes and interlinking of rivers also found support. Many expressed need to come up with a clear road map for addressing the dearth of job opportunities across sectors and the concomitant issue of skilling of people. Cheaper farm loans and improving rural banking were also among the popular requests.
In terms of economy, the majority vote — but not by a big margin — was for increasing steps to boost infra and realty sectors (36% ). It was closely followed by ‘control fiscal deficit’ at 27%, and ‘focus on MSME sectors’ at 20%.
The fourth segment of the survey, which focused on railways, had a clear message: improve safety and focus on cleanliness. At 64%, most of the respondents were keen on improvements to safety and cleanliness aspects of rail travel. Better connectivity, or increase in rail routes, stood second, while ‘faster trains’ and ‘more trains’ came at third and fourth, respectively.
