VIJAYAWADA:The Union Budget, presented by Union finance minister Arun Jaitley in Parliament on Saturday, evoked mixed reaction from the Aam Aadmi (common man) in the city. Express spoke to a cross-section of them. While some expressed anger and anguish over the Budget as it did not meet their expectations, some others expressed happiness over it.
Happy for New Pension Scheme
I am happy that the new pension scheme is proposed to be increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh and the government’s promise of houses for all by 2022
— K Balaji, rickshaw-puller
Tailored for Corporates
Though the government has not changed the Income Tax slabs, we are happy that at the same time that it has not increased the income taxes. But the Budget seems to be tailored to the needs of the corporate sector and ignoring the needs of the middle-class business people like us
— B Vijay Kumar, businessman
Disappointing
No change in the Income Tax slabs is disappointing. We expected the basic exemption limit of income tax to be raised to Rs 3 lakhs and changes in other slabs too
— Ch Manoj, private employee
Service Tax Hike a Burden
How can normal people pay 14 per cent as service tax? The government says that the Budget is focussed on the welfare of middle class people, but the increase in service tax will be a burden on us
— B Mary Sekhar, housewife
What about Promised Institutes?
The Union government has allotted only one IIM to the state, but what about the other national universities promised by it at the time of the state bifurcation? However, we are somewhat happy with the decrease in the prices of the electronic gadgets
— P Syamala, MBA final year student
Skill Centres Help Students
We are happy that the Modi government has focused on developing the skill of the students with ‘Skill India’ and announced the setting up of national skill centres for the students to enable them to grab jobs in the international market
— G Ganesh Kumar, PG student