Denizens have no time to watch budget live

Hyderabad: The budget presentation creates a lot of interest among the intellectuals, commentators, politicians and the media. But the common man in Hyderabad still does not appear to be so excited about it.

A sort of random survey by The Hans India indicates that it is the senior citizens who are more interested in watching the budget live and few middle-aged people. "We would be getting highlights on social media and through push notifications. Why waste our time on watching TV," a good number of the citizens said.

C Bharath, a retired teacher, said that he watches the budget presentation to know whether there is any hike in their pensions or DA and to find out which commodity would cost more.

"Yes, I do watch the Union Budget especially those parts related to salaried tax benefits which every employee and taxpayer would be interested in. For the rest of the details, I prefer reading the newspaper the next day," an IT employee A Murali Krishna said.

Mamatha Sarkar, a private teacher, said, "I am working in a private firm and am busy with other activities. Sometimes it is boring because there is a lot of disturbance in the session. So I prefer watching the highlights during news hour."

"Watching Union Budget is a waste of time. I better concentrate on my academics," P Sanju Vardhan, an engineering student, felt.

Similarly, a businessman K Ashish said he would prefer getting updates on prices of specific commodities on his mobile and focus on his sales rather than remain glued to the TV. R Sravanthi, a housewife, felt that she would prefer watching interesting episodes on TV rather than hear the "boring speech." She feels that she has no say in increase or decrease of prices of any commodities. "What has to increase will increase. It is the common man, the genuine tax payer who suffers. So why suffer hearing the speech," she quipped.