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The interim Budget on Friday, 1 February, prompted debates on the full tax rebate for people earning up to Rs 5 lakh per annum, and another announcements.
In The Quint’s My Report, citizens expressed their views about the announcements made during the Budget speech presented by interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal. Here’s what they had to say:
Anindya Chakraborty, a student from Kolkata, raised questions about direct cash transfers to farmers and expressed his general disappointment with the lack of direction for reforms.
He added:
“1. The aid of Rs 6,000 to farmers to me is satirical take on the state of farmers more than anything else. I am not sure what Rs 6,000 would do to help them, that too in three tranches.
2. There has been no cut for bigger portion of taxpayers which is a letdown and further confirms the short-term vision from the perspective of the government.
3. All the new policies proposed would require a huge amount of money to implement – who will bear the cost?
The populist measures shows that government is seriously worried about its image with lower- and middle-class Indians and this budget is being used to make some inroads towards alleviating a particular segment of people for vote bank.
I did not expect a strong Budget and stand disappointed seeing the clear lack of direction from the government in terms of proposing any concrete direction for sectoral reforms. The backbone of unorganised sector was badly damaged during demonetisation and now all this government is trying to do is to somehow manage the calamity!”
Varun Rao, an artist from Bengaluru said that he was happy with the tax rebate announced for salaried youth.
He added:
“The increase of income tax exemption limit, of standard deduction, and of TDS threshold for interest from banks and post office deposits is a definite good news for all of us ie the middle-class segment. The pro-farmer and pro-businesses Budget reforms were always there in previous budgets including this one, but this session was a welcome change for salaried individuals.”
Shayonee, a lawyer from Mumbai, had a contrarian view. She said that the tax rebate seemed ‘unrealistic.’
“While the salaried middle class is already celebrating the tax exemption I feel that this is just a proposal and we need to see how it is being implemented, there is definitely a fine print that we must be missing because it seems unrealistic.”Shayonee
A defence personnel who wished to stay anonymous told The Quint that while a hike was announced for military service pay, it was still lower in comparison to the ‘babus’ of the political world and workers in corporate companies.
Devashish Gaur, a student from Bikaner said that this was an ‘election Budget’.
“I am calling this an election Budget because the Modi government after the state elections has realised that the farmers can both build up and bring down a government.”Devashish Gaur
A student from Jaipur, Harshit Pareek, questioned why job generation was not spoken of. However, he said, the hike in MNREGA was a good step to help the weaker sections of society.
Parth Thakker from Kolkata said that the government needed to invest more on education.
Devendra Pratap Singh from Bikaner said that he was disappointed on the announcement made with regard to farmers.
“Just like the state government, the central government also politicises the farmers and makes them more miserable.”Devendra Pratap Singh
Devashish Gaur also felt that the Budget designated for farmers would not actually help the agrarian crisis.
“I feel farmers are not happy. The Rs 6,000 transfer the government is talking about, farmers are responding by saying they don’t need money out of pity, how will there be an end to their problem with Rs 500 a month?”Devashish Gaur
(All 'My Report' branded stories are submitted by citizen journalists to The Quint. Though The Quint inquires into the claims/allegations from all parties before publishing, the report and the views expressed above are the citizen journalist's own. The Quint neither endorses, nor is responsible for the same.)
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