Rachna Prasad wanted to know if the budget had anything on bankruptcy code as her family is into business.
Rachna was busy taking notes inside an auditorium on Monday as Arun Jaitley presented the Union budget for 2016-17. But she was not alone. There were about 100 others - all women.
Yutika Sanganaria said Jaitley tried to do a Robin Hood, "taking resources from the rich and distributing it among the poor".
The women - members of Millennium Mams', an organisation that has been promoting financial literacy among women over the past two decades - sat through Jaitley's budget speech from 11am to 1pm and then dissected it from 4pm to 5.30pm.
"Being from a business family I was very interested to know about the bankruptcy code. It gives loss-making businesses an option to exit and use resources for new ventures," Rachna said.
The bankruptcy code is a legislation that the Centre wants to pass in Parliament, which would make it easier for weak and insolvent firms to exit business. The idea is not to waste capital on weak and unviable businesses.
The session for the members of Millennium Mams' was held at the auditorium of the International Management Institute near the Diamond Harbour Road-Judges Court Road crossing in Alipore.
"I believe it's a bold budget because the government has been able to keep a fiscal deficit of 3.9 per cent despite the one-rank-one-pension scheme and less collection of direct taxes," Bishnu Dhanuka, 63, the founder-director of the organisation, said.
The government has also allocated huge sums to infrastructure and agriculture even though there will be a lot of pressure on the government exchequer to implement the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission, he said.
"I am already looking forward to the budget of 2017-18. By then the government would have managed to cope with the increase in salaries... the GST bill would hopefully be passed by then. I think we will have a GDP growth target of 9 per cent in the next budget."
After the evening's discussion, Rachna said she felt she would get more information on the bankruptcy code by going through the annexe to the budget document.
Dhanuka told Yutika that Jaitley did not do a Robin Hood because the government was trying to strengthen the economy while winning back people's trust.
Explaining presumptive tax to a woman, he said many people in country ran small businesses by the roadside like a paan shop. "Their income might be taxable but they are scared to get involved in income tax matters like filing returns."
"Presumptive taxation means you've to pay a certain amount without worrying about maintaining or auditing accounts. It'll help raise revenue from such people without complicating matters for them."