'I do not expect any concessions'

Jalaj Srivastava, a 21-year-old final year engineering student from College of Engineering, Roorkee

"Of course, the Budget is important. This is the time when manufacturers of various consumer items like computers, TVs, ACs, etc. create a fear psychosis among the consumers to boost up their sales."

"They tell them to buy these items before they become expensive, but many times they end up paying more as the Budget offers concessions on precisely these items."

"I do not expect any major concessions from the Budget for the youth as we have already been warned about harsh economic measures."

"In fact, whatever one might say about the former Human Resources Development Minister Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, he had created some ray of hope among the MBA aspirants by drastically reducing the IIM fees. But this government has reversed the move just to spite him."

"Since a lot of young MPs have made it to the Parliament, I hope the government would keep up its promise of generating more jobs and provide unemployment allowance to the qualified people."

"No one trusts politicians these days and in an age of coalitions the government always has an alibi of going back on its Budgetary promises by citing pressure from the partners."

"Finance Minister P Chidambaram has an excellent track record and is regarded as a good juggler of figures in his earlier stints. I would give him 7 out of 10 on the scale."

"If I were in Chidambaram's shoes I would motivate people to pay their taxes as a mater of routine as just like wearing helmets or carrying driving licenses. This exercise should start from the top so that there would be no need for raids on errant officers and politicians trying to hide their assets by hiring chartered accountants and long drawn out legal battles." "At the same time I feel that something as common as possessing a mobile or a telephone should not be considered a sign of prosperity. Mere possession of these products should not become a criteria for filing IT returns."

"I would make Indian salaries attractive enough for qualified techies so that Indian talent does not have to go to alien countries for jobs."

- As told to Onkar Singh

Photograph: Virender Tyagi

Budget 2004-05: Complete Coverage

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