People in capital have mixed reaction to Budget

People in the national capital today gave a mixed reaction to this year's udget as they rued the absence of larger income tax exemption and relief on home loans, but welcomed the tax reduction on home items.     

Government servants and women hailed the budget as "reasonably good," saying this is a welcome beginning for the UPA government.     

"Its good that medicines, jewellery, cookers, besides other home appliances have got cheaper. The time the finance minister had at hand to prepare the budget was less but he has done a fairly reasonable job," said Preeti Sharma, a government school teacher in Delhi.     

However, the increase of Rs 10,000 in the income tax exemption limit did not go down well with many professionals, who said it fell short of their expectations.     

"The increase is only marginal and not according to our expectations, especially in the present times of recession and inflation when we need greater disposal income," said Prabhakar Mishra, an employee in a private sector bank.     

Mishra also said the exemption on surcharge for those with income of Rs 10 lakh or more will hardly benefit those who actually need relief.     

Many were disappointed to see no mention of home loan lending rates in the budget. "We had much expectations from the government on this count as we had planned to purchase a house in the national capital," Rajan Baweja, a sales manager said. 

Pro-poor initiatives like an allocation of Rs 71,000 crore for social sector programmes, including government's flagship scheme NREGA and for rural road construction, got a thumbs up even from the urban population.     

"Massive allocations for the rural population is a good and mature step on the part of the government. The country needs employment opportunities in rural areas to reduce migration to urban centres," Indu Dwivedi, a Delhi University lecturer said.     

Besides Rs 71,000 crore for social sector, the budget also provides for 25 kg rice and wheat for poor at Rs three a kg, a guaranteed minimum Rs 100 a day rural job.     

Senior citizens also welcomed the increase in the income tax exemption limit by Rs 15,000.     

The abolition of the much-disliked Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) was well received by most of the employees, who said the companies would now be able to give more benefits to their workers, without passing on the weight of the tax.