Budget reactions: “Why is the budget even read out in Parliament?”

“I have no interest in the Union Budget,” says former RSS ideologue KN Govindacharya. “What is the point of reading it in Parliament, if all policy related decisions are taken earlier?” he asked.

An astute political observer, he says the budget document need not be read out at all. Upload it on the website and circulate it by email, he adds nonchalantly, leaving listeners to wonder whether he is being serious or bantering.

But on a more serious note, he wonders why the Railway Budget has been merged with the General Budget this year for the first time ever. He has no doubt that this has been done because the Government is more than willing to sell it to private companies. “The Government wants to forgo its responsibility. They should clarify their vision about the budget,” he says with finality, refusing to get drawn into specifics.

Like the seven blind men and the elephant, the Union Budget on Wednesday evoked various reactions, which fluctuated from the fawning to the critical.

Veteran journalist, editor and commentator Shekhar Gupta tweeted that the Union Budget made it clear that there were no windfall gains from demonetisation. The Reserve Bank, he said, could now disclose information about how much of the banned currency notes have been returned to the banks.

Another veteran business journalist and editor R Jagannathan summed up the budget in the following words: “No shocks, no big moves, not too populist, no nasty surprises, fiscally sensible, focused spending.”

TV anchor Rajdeep Sardesai tweeted, “Big industry not happy, wanted a corporate tax cut. Where is the incentive for honest, tax-compliant citizens like you and me?”

Nitin Sethi, journalist, pointed out: “Target no. of houses under PM Awas Yojana actually lowered. Government built only 60 homes in urban India in first year.”

But the last word was Shekhar Gupta’s. For the poor, downtrodden, villagers and farmers, he tweeted, budget does in far greater measure what earlier budgets have done: Provide lip service.