Youngsters crib about budget as phones, bikes get dearer

Youngsters crib about budget as phones, bikes get dearer

MUNISH DHIMAN  CHANDIGARH | 9th Mar 2013

ILLUSTRATION: RASHMI GUPTA | DEV KABIR MALIK DESIGN ong gone are the days when roti, kapda, and makaan constituted the basic necessities required for human survival. Today, these basic amenities clubbed with newer needs of communication, transportation, and entertainment, are vital for existence. The aftermath of the recent budget has proved to be rather devastating. Apart from the expectations of the common man, it has shattered the dreams of several youngsters who were eagerly waiting for the annual budget to carry something lucrative for them. With 6% duty on mobile phones against existing 1%; SUVs from 27% to 30%; imported motorcycles 75% from 60% at present; and also air conditioned restaurants that are brought under the service tax ambit, we speak to some youngsters from Chandigarh what they felt about the budget. Nitish Aggarwal, B.Com student at Panjab University says, "My father had promised to give me an imported bike in final year. After the budget and recent petrol price hike, he is a bit reluctant as apart from the price, the monthly expenditure too will escalate. Thanks to the FM, I am stuck with the diesel car now, which I am fed up of driving." Ritika Sharma, an engineering student said, "Undeniably this budget is not at all youngster friendly. For a businessman, a hike in the tax doesn't matter as it is directly passed on to the customer. Neither Government nor the businessman faces any problem, its people like us who face the real heat! With taxes imposed on AC restaurants it will become difficult for us to organise regular parties which a major recreation for students." "This year's budget has been disappointing on many fronts especially when it comes to luxury goods. Increasing excise duty on mobile phones priced over INR 2,000 by 5% is a bad move which will dent the growth of the Mobile Handset market to some measure. Another surprising and equally disappointing decision is to increase the import duty on cars from 75% to 100%. Potential SUV buyers have been severely hit in this budget and some of these decisions seem to be geared towards penalising the rich for just being that," adds Kartik Aggarwal, a management student at the Indian School of Business. On the contrary, for few, the annual budget merely holds any importance. For them, it's another price hike which is normal in daily routine and is adjustable to some extent. Rishabh, an animation student says, "I don't think the duty hike on mobile phones matter much. I feel 5% hike in mobile phone prices is nothing as compared to automobiles and motorcycles. I am planning to buy an Apple i5 which costs about 45,000 rupees. If I can afford 45,000, an increase of rupees 1500 or 2500 really doesn't matter to me." http://www.sunday-guardian.com/young-restless/youngsters-crib-about-budget-as-phones-bikes-get-dearer