A few were upbeat over the interim Union budget, the rest were dejected. The Telegraph checks out people’s reaction to Union finance minister P. Chidambaram’s proposals

Simply poor

Reaction: It is a bad budget from the point of view of Bihar and manufacturing sector. If the interim budget could give additional grants to some Northeast states and Himachal Pradesh, why Bihar’s demand for special status was ignored? The Union finance minister admitted that manufacturing sector was in a bad shape but nothing concrete has been announced for its revival

Inspiring

Reaction: This budget is quite motivational for investors because of the relief on excise duty. It has given relief to upper middleclass and rich people also

Nothing for kitchen

Reaction: I would have been happy had the government reduced the prices of essential food items, including sugar and oil. It has simply given nothing to homemakers to cheer about. I am disappointed

Mixed blessing

Reaction: The best thing of the Union budget for students is allocation of Rs 2,600 crore for education loan moratorium. It will benefit nine lakh borrowers. At the same time, no concrete steps have been taken for creating jobs

Crestfallen

Reaction: The last Union budget had nothing for common man. Expectations of common man, particularly the lower middleclass was very high in this election year budget but nothing emerged. Middleclass and small traders would be affected by the no change in the income tax slabs

Lacks courage

Reaction: The Union budget is an election budget with an aim to woo urban middleclass. Union finance minister P. Chidambaram has tried to compete with the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who have been luring the urban middleclass. It lacks the courage to meet the challenges of Indian economy such as inflation, unemployment and regional imbalance