lucknow women be it a housewife professionals or students may not follow the proceedings of the budget with avid attention but the fine balancing act that they do to make ends meet often requires a greater understanding of the dynamics of income and expenditure that goes beyond the arithmetics and complex equations of the budget finance minister jaswant singh has assured that women empowerment will be given additional stress here is what women wanted and what women thinkneelam singh sangwan assistant director cimap i expected some concessions in tax rebate which would have been particularly beneficial in the context of women to give them a greater competitive edge on the positive side the prices of cars acs kithchenware and electronic goods has fallen which means that more people will be able to afford consumer durables the revival of the leave travel allowance which was suspended for some time is particularly welcome along with the rebate on childrens education given indias dismal track record regarding health and hospital facilities the emphasis on health care is a big plus point of this budget however despite the general optimistic mood the budget fell short on counts of science and agriculture research we were expecting some investment to take place in this fieldnoor khan reader department of english karamat pg college this is a peoplefriendly budget and is aimed at professionals who form a bulk of tax payers as a teacher and housewife i respond positively to the government step to give a tax rebate of rs 12000 per child for education also the it exemptions for senior citizens is a step in the right direction a positive reaction to the budget 20034 is the freedom from the income tax officer and the provision of sample scrutiny on computer is in keeping pace with the advancements in technology and simpler tax structure on the flip side for people with fixed incomes the 1 per cent cut in the ppf and small savings rate is a very harsh stepranjana singh student mount carmel college this is a bid to appease the public people may not be caught in a broadened tax net but this budget will definitely lure more people into the electoral net hence the common man needs to take this budget with a pinch of saltghazal zaigham film producer this is bittersweet budget while on the one hand they have incorporated many sops for consumers the demands of farmers who form the backbone of the economy in the postdrought scenario has been negated a hike in the prices of fertilisers is part of this regressive trend additionally employment generation has been totally ignored while the prices of cooking oil and petrol has gone up this has perhaps been offset by acs tyres automobiles gold and garments becoming cheaper people can also think of investing in their dream home