Residents watch finance minister Arun Jaitley present the Union budget in Patna on Thursday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

After the budget presented by Union finance minister, The Telegraph asks five questions to a cross-section of people. These are all they had to say

1. What’s the wow factor in the budget?

2. What’s the ouch factor in the budget?

3. Anything in the budget that finance minister did that you liked or disliked?

4. Are there any causes close to your heart that haven’t been addressed in this budget?

5. How would you rate the budget on a scale of 1 to 10?

 

NK Choudhary 63

Professor of economics, Patna University

5/10

1. There is nothing as such which came as a pleasant surprise

2. Nothing specific has been said to keep the fiscal deficit in check and a half-hearted approach for controlling the prices of things of daily use. Nothing has been said to strengthen the supply, which could have helped in keeping the prices of such items under check

3. Some relief to individual taxpayers is a welcome step for the middle class. The move to incentivise the housing sector too is a positive step

4. I had expected special steps for ushering in second green revolution in the eastern India but this budget had nothing to say on this front which is a very big disappointment for me

 

Shamser Bahadur Singh 23

Private firm employee

1. Change in tax exemption limit from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh

2. The exemption limit for income tax should have been higher

3. I liked the enhancement in investment limit for saving income tax. It will help the salaried class. It is very good decision by the new government and I welcome it

4. I appreciate the budget and it will boost our economy, as it has covered all sections of people from private employee to farmers. I also appreciate FDI in defence

 

Vivek Shah 36

Businessman

7/10

1. Giving more exemption in tax to the people is good for us; it will increase the purchasing capacity, which will directly benefit us

2. I do not find any ouch factor in the budget; it is very balanced and satisfactory budget

3. As being in the telecommunication field, I like the finance minister proposal of decreasing the price of cellphones. It will help us get more consumers resulting in earning more benefit

4. All the concerns have been addressed in the budget; it is a growth-oriented budget. The government has proved itself and lived up to the expectation of mandate

 

Amulya Kumar Singh 49

Orthopaedic surgeon

9/10

1. I did not find any wow factor in the budget. It will just cater to the need of middle class

and not the upper-middle class and people like us

2. It is very sad that people like us have not been given any rebate in tax and it is only for the middle class

3. I like the change in tax exemption; it will help my more than 50 and odd staff working with me and finance minister has really something good for them

4. I think budget has not talked about interest of education loan for the middle class, I am not talking about higher studies or going abroad. The interest rate of education loan should be least so that the salaried class people can easily send their children to the good institute

 

Seema Kumari 36

Homemaker

8/10

1. Utensils, soap, oil, television and many other necessary items have become cheaper.It is best budget for me at least

2. Readymade clothes and cosmetic items becoming expensive

3. I liked the government on giving emphasis on the safety of women in the city. It is welcome decision and more steps should be taken in coming future

4. For me, all the causes have been addressed in this budget and it will give a relief to common people

 

P.K. Agarwal 66

President, Bihar Chamber of Commerce and Industries

7/10

1. For the first time, this budget seems to be national budget in which all the states have been given something, earlier the budget used to be few state-centric budgets

2. We were expecting some special packages and special attention for Bihar but we did not get it

3. I did not like the cutting the negative list of service tax, it should be continued

4. We were expecting vital change in the direct tax. We were also hoping to get tax exemption up to Rs 5 lakh

 

Gajendra Kumar 18

Student, qualified for engineering course

7/10

1. Cellphone and footwear become cheaper

2. I did not like the way the government has proposed to increase the price of cold drinks and packed juice

3. I liked the proposal of opening an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Bihar

4. I find NCERT books very expensive and sometimes the students are unable to afford it. The finance minister should have announced something on this part to make the NCERT books cheaper