Budget & You: What the 2016 budget holds for the Indian families

Budget 2016 has seen a lot of mixed reactions from influential people and businessman, especially on the social media. Overall, the budget seems to be in favour of the aam aadmi, which has always been the focus of attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ever since he came into power.

““The budget clearly calls for electrifying all villages... By 2018, every village will have electricity, rural economy will get boost and the common man’s life will change.Ask a common man, ask a poor man. They have a dream to own a house. And the government can help them fulfil that dream.Through this budget, the housing sector will be strengthened and this will boost our dream of ‘Housing for All’,” he said in his post-budget comments which were televised on national TV.

“For us, primary education is very important. We are giving priority to a qualitative transformation of the education sector.Our youth, especially the Dalit youth and tribal youngsters, want to be job creators and not job seekers,” said Pm Modi in the interview.

• Relief for tenants: The budget proposes to provide relief to families living in rented houses and offers to increase the deduction for rent paid from Rs 20,000 to Rs 60,000.
• Relief for home-buyers: An additional tax relief of Rs 50,000 per annum on a loan of Rs 35 lakh in 2016-17 for the first-time home buyers, provided the house cost does not exceed Rs 50 lakh.
• Focus on health care: Rs 1, 51, 581 crore has been allocated to the social sector including education and health care. New health protection scheme will provide health coverup to Rs 1 lakh per family.
• Education to get a boost: 62 new Navodaya Vidyalayas will be opened. Sarva siksha Abhiyan to increase focus on quality of education.
• Provide LPG to BPL families: Rs 2,000 crore allocated for providing LPG connections to BPL
• Focus on creating skills: Rs 1,804 crore allocated for skill development. 1500 multi-skill training institutes to be set-up. National Board for skill development certification to be set up. Entrepreneurship education and training through massive open online courses.
• Improve job creation: 100 Model Career Centres to be operational by the end of 2016-17 under National career Service.

• Car prices go up: Car prices, including those of mass market small ones, are set to go up. Diesel vehicles would see the highest increase in prices.
• Cigarettes: The excise duty on tobacco has been hiked by 10-15 percent, which indicates that cigarette prices will go up.
• Airport and banking: Airport and banking service will be costly now as government announces 5 percent Krishi Kalyan cess on all taxable services. This also includes beauty treatment, advertising, credit card/ debit card , construction, insurance, telecomm / advertising/ online communications and cab taxi.
• Jewellery: A 1 percent excise duty has been levied on gold and diamond jewellery.
• Aerated drinks (Coke, Pepsi) and Mineral water will get costlier by 3 percent.

Other things that will be expensive include ready made garments and branded apparel of more than Rs 1,000, eating outair Travel, mobile phones, e-reading devices, gold bars.

Buying your first homes, footwear,  Router, broadband modems and set top boxes, digital video, recorder and CCTV cameras, low cost houses with less than 60 sq mt carpet area, microwave ovens and sanitary pads.

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