Letters to the editor

Our Union budgets are no better than an arcane exercise in juggling incomprehensible figures as far as the tax-paying common man is concerned, since he can hardly figure out the achievements or failures of the proposals made in preceding budgets. It must be made mandatory for every FM to inform the nation about what was promised in the previous budget and how much of that has been implemented or achieved during the year. For example the FM has increased the education cess from the present 2 per cent to 3 per cent without even taking the trouble to inform the taxpayer as to how much money was collected under this head and what part of it was actually utilised for the purpose.

— Ved Guliani, Hisar

Seniors blessed

• THE proposal of reverse mortgage for senior citizens is a great blessing for old people. In the nuclear modern family set-up, old people get stranded in big houses with not enough income for a livelihood. They are made to live in alienation and, when they die, the children who had neglected them inherit their hard-earned property. Getting a regular income on the house will enable them to live a better life. The reverse mortgage should continue to operate to benefit the widow of the house-owner also if she is a senior citizen so that she may be left with an independent income after her husband’s death.

— N. Kunju, Delhi

Rural tilt

• P. CHIDAMBARAM has delivered a budget that is biased towards the rural masses, totally ignoring urban Indians who are left to bear the brunt of taxes. It basically was a non-event as saving instruments were not sweetened with a interest rate hike which basically the flavour today. The cement industry along with IT has been hit the hardest. Dividend distribution tax hike would keep companies from declaring higher dividends. Customs duty cuts were not necessary as they hit domestic industry. The FM should have cut excise rates to make goods cheaper. One hopes the FM makes some amendments so that people are not put to further hardship.

— S.N. Kabra Mumbai

Levies like this

• THE FM in presenting this year’s budget has totally forgotten what a good budget needs to be in light of the outcome of and experience with the previous budget. His homework is poor. Is it at all necessary to go on adding new levies and hiking existing levies? He has increased the personal tax exemption limit for salaried class from Rs 1 lakh to Rs1.1 lakh while increasing the education cess by 1 per cent.

— C.R. Ramakrishnan, New Delhi

UP to mischief

• A DAY after the announcement of the UP assembly election schedule, Chief Minister Mulayam Singh kick-started the Samajwadi Party’s poll campaign by renewing his attack on the UPA. Mulayam said that notwithstanding the announcement of the poll schedule, the Centre was still conspiring to dismiss his government. Mulayam is correct. A morbid game of politics is going on in UP.

— Shailesh Kumar, Bangalore