Budget balm for note ban pain

RANCHI: Expectations from Union finance minister Arun Jaitley are high at a time when the ban on high value currency notes have led to chaos and cash crunch across the country. Ranchiites awaiting Wednesday's Union Budget are hoping that the government to now make good for the hardship and the pain they enduredand Jaitley's announcements bring some relief since demonetization.
Businessmen, professionals, retired personnel and homemakers are hopeful that the excess cash reserves which have piled up in banks will be utilised to create policies that will provide direct benefits to them. Speculation regarding changes in tax slabs have also surfaced after reports indicated that the finance ministry is considering a proposal to raise tax exemption limit from the present Rs 2.5 lakh per annum.
Federation of Jharkhand chamber of commerce and industries (FJCCI) president Vinay K Agarwal said, "The most important thing now is to bring all businesses and businessmen under the tax purview. Since GST will be introduced sooner than later, it is important that the government makes no further tax increments. Excise duty should be lowered as service tax has been raised twice in recent times. Bank interest rates should also be increased by at least 2-3%."
Agarwal also raised concerns over the functionality of the single window system and complained that much like other policies, the effectiveness of the system at the district level is questionable. "The Centre should form monitoring bodies for every policy to ensure they are thoroughly executed at the grassroot," he said.
Homemaker Anita Chatterjee said she has lost all hopes in government policies, "I just hope they do not take steps which will leade to further increase in prices. Having seen several budgets, I can't understand why concrete measures to provide medical and childcare benefits have not been taken."
B K Dutt, a retired government official, said, "It is important that a special scheme is prepared for retired persons who are largely dependent on fixed deposits. Interest rates on deposits held by retired people must be increased substantially."
Vijay Lal, a salaried person, said, "The tax-exempt bracket should be raised to Rs 5 lakh from the present limit. It will bring huge relief to the middle-class, which has carried the burden of demonetisation."