The Union Budget 2014 may have drawn cheers from some and brickbats from others, but for the Reddy family in Saidapet, not much is going to change.
While Krishna Mohan Reddy, CEO at Lucid Software, is appreciative of the tax concessions, he says the Budget will not help with escalating everyday costs.
“Transport and education will continue to be as expensive as they are,” says the father of two.
Monthly household expenditures for the family are upwards of Rs. 25,000, says Sujatha Reddy, who heads the master health check-up and preventive medicine department at MIOT Hospitals.
“Vegetables continue to be expensive, and we buy around three water cans every week. Petrol too is expensive, and since my husband and I both drive to work every day, the costs pile up,” says Dr. Reddy.
“The tax concession will not amount to substantial savings for us. Increase in housing loan concession, however, will definitely benefit a lot of families. We have paid off our house loan now, otherwise it would have been useful,” says Mr. Reddy.
Wishing there had been more allotments in the budget to build infrastructure and better transport systems, Mr. Reddy says getting to and from destinations is a huge hassle.
“Every time I travel to Europe, it is so easy to get from the airport to wherever I want to go, as they have an excellent public transport system. Here, we pay in van fees almost as much as tuition fees, every year,” he says.
“It’s a good budget but our everyday costs will continue to be high. In that sense, it does not benefit us too much,” says Mr. Reddy.
