Mumbai professionals express their hopes in the run-up to the Budget

All eyes are going to be on finance minister Arun Jaitley as he presents his third budget at the Lok Sabha on Monday. Mumbai's working professionals say they will be watching intently

All eyes are going to be on finance minister Arun Jaitley on Monday as he presents his third budget at the Lok Sabha.

Working professionals in Mumbai say they are going to be watching what he has in store for them. Professionals from a start-up, the education, health and real estate sectors, and the fashion industry, spell out their hopes.

Voices

Dr Uday Salunkhe, Group Director, WeSchool
I hope the government increases allocation to the education sector to 4.2 per cent of GDP. It was reduced in the last budget. The focus should be on primary and secondary education in order to improve literacy rate and up employment. The government also needs to spend more on research grants. I wish that service tax is abolished in the education sector. It';s important if the government is serious about the success of Skill India and other initiatives. Passing the Foreign Universities Bill and deregulation in the education sector will be two welcome moves.

Zishaan Hayath, 34, Co-founder of start-up Toppr
While the government has said it will make starting a company easy, there’s still a long way to go. I hope they address the issue of easier registration of companies and implementing the GST Bill. Right now, it takes more than 45 days to register a company.

Vandana Gupta, 29, Fashion designer
Taxes need to be lowered to lead to an increase in disposable income, which leads to spending on fashion and lifestyle. The current fiscal deficit is at an acceptable level thanks to lower crude oil prices. This has helped me save some money.

Rajesh Vardhan, 49, Vardhman Developers’ Limited
The real estate sector has seen a major slump. Finance-revenue needs a ready reckoner (prices of the property for a given area that is published and regulated by the state government) and infrastructure outlay should be released fast.

Dr Harshida Pai, 28, Andheri-based physiotherapist
I am hoping to see a substantial amount allocated for medical research. There is also the need to increase allocation for medical infrastructure. There is a need for private hospitals to be given SOPs to open health care centres across rural India.

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