Moving away from the bungle of economic jargons following the announcement of the Union Budget, mid-day sat with the Khan family to gain an insight into the impact of the Centre's economic promises on the common man
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Moving away from the bungle of economic jargons following the announcement of the Union Budget, mid-day sat with the Khan family to gain an insight into the impact of the Centre's economic promises on the common man.
The Khan family's battalion is headed by retired Army pilot major Sayed Nematullah, whose flying career was cut short due to an accident that left him wheelchair-bound. The recently retired Pawan Hans DGMO's family consists of his wife, two daughters, a son, daughter-in-law and three grandchildren.
Refat Khan, former manager at an MNC
'It is heartening to know that the Finance Minister has focused on the quality of education in the country and gradually move to digital learning. But in a city like Mumbai, the cost of educating our children in private schools is a daunting task, which results in an additional financial burden on the parents. It will be achche din for us when special attention is paid to this problem'
Sayed Rukhsana, Khan's wife
'I do not know about economic policies and their implications, but all I can say is that the common man should get relief from the ever growing prices and more steps should be taken to ease the life of senior citizens, especially those who have served the country in the armed forces.'
Tarannum Sayed, daughter-in-law, housewife
'One does not eat items like meats and exotic vegetables on a daily basis and the cost of basic stuff is so volatile that one does not know when they may hit the roof. The idea to develop a market for onions, potatoes and tomatoes, said to be launched under the new scheme with a corpus of Rs 500 crore to help farmers is a lovely initiative, but at the end of the day, housewives, who handle the day to day budget of the family want to see such schemes to save money, which has not happened so far.'
Sayed Fouzia, IT professional
'All senior citizens will now be able to claim benefit of deduction up to Rs 50,000 per annum with respect to any health insurance premium pertaining to any general medical expenditure. The idea of the National Health Protection Scheme is fantastic, provided it is implemented in its true spirit.'
Major Sayed Nematullah, retd Army pilot
'On the one hand, I am immensely pleased the present government is going all out to manufacture defence-related equipment within the country. We have all the resources and human talent to be self reliant in this field, so the delay is a big enigma for people like me who are from the armed forces. On the other, for a person like me who is solely dependent on my wheelchair and a specially modified car for transport - the cost of fuel is absolutely killing and a deterrent for my independent travel.'
Samiya Khan, Std IX student, granddaughter
'I am concerned about the ever growing cost of textbooks and now imported mobiles are all set to get dearer. Mobiles and laptops are more of a necessity and not a luxury anymore and need to be subsidised.'
All Amir and Zeyad want is free chocolates and ice cream.
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