Congress MLA from Kila Raipur Jassi Khangura and state BJP president Prof Rajinder Bhandari participated in the session. A panel of experts from various sectors of the economy were invited to express their viewpoint on the current budget.

MLA Khangura hailed the budget. Prof Arvind Malhotra, an expert on income tax, said that the budget primarily focused on two core areas: the middle class and the small farmers. “The farmers who were under great debt trap for over years now, have got some relief with this budget,” said Prof Malhotra.

Prof Malhotra highlighted the segments which have been completely ignored by Budget-2008. The infrastructure of an economy, he felt, was the back bone of any nation, much was not proposed for its enhancement. He condemned the reduction in prices of vehicles, as it would overburden roads.

Khangura informed the students that if the benefit spreads to a greater section of the society, it spreads very thinly, giving almost no advantage to any sector. He advised the audience to trust the decision of the finance minister, as the proposal is expected to bring benefits to the citizens of the country.

Punjab BJP president Prof Rajinder Bhandari felt that it was an imbalanced budget, where only a limited section of the society was targeted. He said, “The budget is not rational at all. How can the government justify its appeasement policy for some sections while ignoring others?” Bhandari asserted that real investment was needed in the areas of health and education.

DS Chawla, former president of Small Scale Industries, spoke from the industrial perspective. Chawla condemned the fact that nothing significant was done for the industries. He pointed out that the industries were not getting appropriate raw material and power supplies.