It may be termed as a populist budget by many, considering that these are the last days in parliament for UPA government before the elections at the end of this year, but this year’s budget as definitely cheered up Punekars.

“It is certainly a great sign, as the senior citizens who are mostly dependent on pensions will benefit. Most of the time, senior citizens have a number of investments so that combined with the increased tax limit will surely ensure increased in-hand amounts,” says Col (Retd) D G Wakankar. Pune’s senior citizens seem happy that this raise in the IT slab has helped them become financially independent — it leaves them with more money in their hands.

“I just retired from Controller of Defence Accounts and entered the pensioners’ class. It is a good decision from the government as income drastically goes down post-retirement. This will certainly help us retain more money in our hands and reduce our dependency on other sources of income like investment returns and pension plans,” says Archana Tribhuvan, former senior auditor, Controller of Defence Accounts. Along with the general satisfaction and enthusiasm about the budget, there is a counter view that it is a populist’s measure that may result in inflation.

“Superficial, it provides relief to framers, women, senior citizens and corporate sector. Loan waivers to farmers, employment guarantee, and raising income tax limits-these are just palliative measures, and are offset by inflation,” says Vasant Pethe, former princeton university fellow and former professor at Gokhale institute.