Balance sheet of a middle-class housewife

Grappling with the family Budget:

There is no rise in the income, but the prices hit the roof! The common man is steadily getting in to a mire of debts.

The main expenditure is taxes, school fees for the children, and illness in the family.

The whole country eagerly waits for 28th of February because the Govt presents the budget in the Parliament. The Central Finance minister Mr. Chidambaram is going to do this.

Budget means a balance sheet showing receipts and expenditure. The income that the Govt gets depends on the taxes paid by the people. To overcome the deficit, the Govt levies direct and indirect taxes on the people. It collects income tax from the people, and in addition sales tax, import duties, service tax, cess and toll tax …… These are the various methods by which the Govt empties the pockets of the common man every year.

But what about the common man’s budget?  He can never balance the income and expenditure figures. The taxes he has to pay, the prices of essential commodities, travel charges, school and college fees, are going skyrocketing. The common man has no access to any money except his income. He cannot levy taxes on any one. He cannot print any money. Then how is he going to meet the rising expenditure at home and find money for school, college fees for his children, or their marriages, or any other additional expenditure? There is only one way ….. to get in to debt!

Will the Centre show a way? Will it bring down the prices and help the poor and the middle classes?

Sakshi has examined the income and expenditure of the common man and found the following facts:

Monthly income and expenditure of one Bandaru Ramesh who is working in an ad agency in the marketing section:

His income is 15,000 per month but his expenditure comes to Rs 17,380 with only the minimum spent on essentials. His deficit comes to Rs 2,380.  Where will he get the money to pay for sudden illness in the family, or for his daughter’s school fees, or for his son’s higher education, or for the marriage of his daughter unless he goes in for a loan and get steadily in to debt?

Kittanna is a farmer in Deganipalle in Chittoor District. He has five acres but cultivates only three acres. He spent about 1.85 lakhs and cultivated crops like maize, cotton, and tomato. But he incurred a loss of 25 thousand. His deficit on an average was Rs 2083. His expenditure for his family per month is Rs 6760. Hence the deficit for each month in his budget is RS 8,843. To close the gap between his income and expenditure he gets in to debt.

Korrayi Parvathi Rao from Kesavarayunipuram is a daily wage earner.  He has two daughters. He gets Rs 3,500 per month. His wife earns 1,500 totaling Rs 5,000 .Their expenditure is Rs 6,930. There is no insurance for them. He is not able to send his children to school. They have to labour everyday to spend on bare necessities.

Tallapragada Mahesh is a senior conductor in RTC. His income is Rs 17,332. His expenditure per month is 19,500.  He owns a small house but he is worried about the higher education of his children.  Unable to meet the travel expenses they have stopped attending any festive occasions in his relation’s houses. The children have been asking for a computer for quite some time. He feels sad that he is unable to get it for them.

These are a few examples of lower and middle class lives for whom presenting the country’s budget in the Parliament has no relevance, as there is no relief for them in sight.

- Sakshipost