Dear Nirmalaji, please consider affordable housing

On February 1, 2021, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Budget for the Financial Year 2021-2021.

Nirmalaji has asked us to send the finance ministry inputs so that the government can prepare an all-inclusive Budget, one that will incorporate the needs of its people.

In a month-long series, A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com will speak to Indians across the land about what their expectations from Budget 2021 are.

Akansha Dixit, 35, has a BE degree in mechanical engineering and a MBA in operations and supply chain.

She was brought up in Kanpur, but now lives and works in Mumbai.

She is employed in a private company and has been working for the past 10 years. Her husband works in a bank.

These are her suggestions for the finance minister.

Dear Nirmalaji,

I am a salaried person. We pay TDS (tax deducted at source) every month but we are not getting any benefits.

In the West, they have good public infrastructure for healthcare and education. But, in India, everything is privatised. We have to pay for everything.

There has been a lot of discussion about reducing the tax burden on individual tax payers but nothing has been done about it yet.

Last year's new tax regime was no good. The old tax rates were better.

Personal income tax should be decreased or you should take care of us, the tax payers.

I want the government to spend more on healthcare and education.

They are already doing good work in taking care of sanitation, roads and the transport network. Now, they should focus on healthcare and education.

I live in a rented house.

I cannot afford to buy a house in Mumbai so I will have to buy a house in another city. I am looking at options.

Housing in Mumbai is extremely expensive. I hope the government does something to provide affordable housing.

Thank you.

Earlier in the series:

• Himani Zaveri, businesswoman
• Sandeep Sharma, MBA in finance driver
• K Nishad, driver
• Shivraj Ganpatrao Vanarse, newspaper vendor
• Rajeev Kumar Singh, security guard

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com