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Disappointing

The Union budget for 2007-08 presented by Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in Parliament on Wednesday is disappointing. It is unfortunate that political calculations have taken precedence over economic priorities and the well being of the citizens has been ignored. The expectations of the salaried class have been belied. The increase in exemption limit of income tax by Rs.10,000 is a pittance and will not benefit the majority of the working class.

Thrust should have been given for boosting the savings culture by enhancing the exemption limit under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act as this would have accelerated infrastructure development.

B.N. Bharath,
Virajpet, Karnataka

Should the rural poor thank Mr. Chidambaram for devoting 20 minutes of his budget speech (as claimed) to allocate a few resources to the agricultural sector and for trivialising the travails of inflation by making food for pets cheaper? Can the common man ever hope for a real good deal?

Kasim Sait,
Chennai

The sensitive index has tumbled again. That the Sensex fell 678 points within five minutes of the Finance Minister beginning his speech has shattered the myth of market buoyancy and the 9 per cent growth rate trumpeted by the Government. It also exposes the manipulation of the share market by some foreign institutional investors (FIIs) who are here to make profits at the cost of retail investors.

Syed Sultan Mohiddin,
Kadapa

A total disappointment for the salaried class. The increased education cess is an additional burden on the already over-taxed citizen.

B. Radha Krishna Murty,
Hyderabad

The Finance Minister has not touched several burning issues or addressed the common man's expectations. The more one studies the general budget the more one feels inclined to appreciate the Railway budget.

H.K. Lakshman Rao,
Chennai

The raising of the income tax exemption by Rs.10,000 is an affront to the tax payer. The real issue of the parallel economy of black money, which has been the bane of our financial system, has been left to grow without any checks.

U.B.G. Menon,
Chennai

The new secondary and higher education cess appears to have been introduced solely to cater to Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh's promise of reservation in the higher education sector.

B.N. Gururaj,
Bangalore

How this budget hopes to check the runaway inflation rate is beyond my understanding. Surprisingly, relief has been given to food for pets!

Kadhir Nilavan,
Chennai

Mr. Chidambaram has only paid lip service to the farm sector by devoting 15 minutes to it in his speech. The allocation for the farm sector is insignificant given the present inflationary spiral. No worthwhile proposal for agricultural renewal has been made.

K. Lakshmanan,
Srirangam

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