BUDGET 2026

 

 

It was a nice bright Sunday and my pension had just got credited. These days, banks are very transparent, they not only send a message of what they have credited but also tell you how much income tax they deducted. I am contributing to the budget of the nation.

 

Before the credit, concerns about monthly debits start on 1^st of the month. Bijli ka bill, doodhwale ka bill, paper wale ka, medicine ka, car wash, mobile & cable TV recharge, the list is endless. Maids have to be paid in cash which cannot be delayed.

 

Be that as it may. I was in no mood to switch on the TV for the simple reason that there is nothing much to watch and much better things to read. TV news and debates are harbingers of headaches and mental torture.

 

A single news item is flogged like a bedsheet treated at ‘dhobi ghat stone’. What is left is shouting, rage, showing down each other, anger, hate, and noise pollution. There is everything except news.

 

In the afternoon, I switched on the TV to check the sports channel. Having enjoyed the Australian open, an odd cricket match would definitely be telecast. I got hooked on to the under nineteen match.

 

Lunch and a nap and then again cricket. India won. That is the time I flicked channels and stopped on a news channel. They were discussing the budget. Hain! Budget on a Sunday. I knew, every channel would be dissecting it to the last vein of a frog.

 

Knowing the political inclinations of channels, the ‘devotees’ would see it as a "bharat ka budget”, the ‘blind devotees’ would see nothing wrong and call it people friendly.

 

Then there would be people on the flip side who would find nothing right with what the Madam in a “Kanjeevaram Sari” presented because the ‘bearded man’ thumped the table. Was the thumping in appreciation of the budget, good English, or the saree which a ‘lakhpati didi’ can never afford?

 

One has to be good at juggling words, especially when you are speaking to people who do not understand finances. ‘Honourable members’ keep waiting for an increase in income tax slab, something for the parliamentarians, and suddenly the FM finishes her speech after an hour and a half. Chalo, jao apne-apne ghar. Aaj ka khel khatam.

 

Let me rope in Mr Sashi Tharoor. He ‘had’ Mr Trump in one of his interviews without saying an offensive word. That is how Madam slapped most of us. It was a method of extracting your money without leaving a snitch on your body. No trace of torture left.

 

A common man’s expectations fell apart. His dreams of having those few rupees extra went kaput. The prices of fuel did not change. I am not sure if Madam mentioned an increase in prices of Liquor and Cigarettes. All those who drink and smoke, it makes no difference. They will buy all ‘kachhi-pakki’, ‘desi-angrezi’ at any cost.

 

What caught my attention was the fall of the ‘Sensex’. I was very happy when it had risen to 85,000 plus. Post budget it came tumbling down to around 80,000 points. ‘Side effect’ of a ‘bitter pill’ called budget. What does it indicate? ‘Tai’ should know better.

 

With nothing to ‘feel good’ about, not even a drop in rail ticket prices, the idiot box was silenced and blacked out. I wanted to convey to madam to kindly redo the budget for the common man, which she will fight tooth and nail subsequently.

 

Soon, the WhatsApp university became active. Someone summarised the budget. No one has the time and patience to listen to long speeches and financial jargon which most of the people who govern us have no clue about.

 

What caught my attention was that our Ex-Servicemen were targeted this time. Not all, but all those who retired/got boarded out with disabilities suffered during service. There were many who lost their lives and limbs for this nation, fighting in the types of terrains and enemies which an ‘Ex Defence Minister’ has forgotten it seems.

 

Their pension including the disability portion, which is miniscule has now been brought under the tax net. Defence pensioners are already paying income tax. Now their disability pension too would be taxed. Madam, have a heart.

 

These men are not normal human beings. Please ask their families and parents when you have a physically challenged person who was up and running till yesterday, got disabled while serving this nation. I wish ESM mattered as a vote bank.

 

People may keep saying that this budget has a vision for 2047, but I do not see beyond 2027. You love it or leave it, it has been presented so lump it, you can do nothing about it.

 

What did the common man get in this budget? I wonder!!!!!!

 

JAI HIND
© ® NOEL ELLIS