Post News Network
Cuttack, Feb 28: The NDA government’s maiden budget which was announced by finance minister Arun Jaitley in Parliament Saturday was met with a mixed response by residents of the silver city.
While the budget failed to garner many admirers, critics were vocal in their disapproval terming it a dampener after months of feverish expectations of a ‘Big Bang’ budget.
“The NDA government has juggled the numbers and has presented a budget that envisions an impossible rate of GDP growth. A government which can tweak numbers and hide reality from the people can only be trusted when words are translated into action,” said Dr Mayadhar Pradhan, a retired military doctor.
“It remains to be seen whether the NDA government, which is known for bragging a lot and doing little, keeps its promises,” said Pradhan adding the only silver lining of the budget for him was the couple of senior-citizen friendly measures such as tax-saving instruments.
The hype and hoopla surrounding the budget was lost on Malay Behera, a shopkeeper at Arunodaya Market near Link Road. “I didn’t know about it until you asked me. I don’t know about such things. All I know is I have to ensure three square meals a day for my family of five,” he said.
Dharmabrata Mohapatra, head of economics at Ravenshaw University, lavished praise for the budget. “If subsidies reach the needy in an organised manner, the balance amount can be used for other welfare activities. As the budget is investor-friendly, it will attract investments and youngsters will get jobs. But it all boils down to the way the policies are implemented,” Mohapatra said.
