GD Monday is back! It is back due to popular demand! A lot of people found the exercise extremely useful and we got emails from aspirants asking us to start it again. So here we go again!
You can go through all the topics in the series over here.. You can share your views on the topic in the comments section.. (All the comments/views in the discussion are being rated on a scale of 10 by our experts, along with an explanation)
This week's topic may appear a little tough to some but it provides plenty of scope to talk and differentiate oneself by doing some good research. "The Union budget has no relevance to the common man." Only stock markets care about the budget? Or is it only the industrialists clamouring for reduction in indirect taxes? How many people in India actually pay taxes? How does the budget help the common man?
This is how it will work :
1) Users can post their arguments or views using their Twitter/Wordpress/OpenID accounts in the comments section below.
2) You can argue and counter-argue on the topic for the entire week.
3) The thread will be moderated by Team InsideIIM to ensure the discussion is kept relevant and is not abusive.
4) On Saturday, experts and industry professionals at InsideIIM (all ex-IIM,XLRI,ISB only) will rate each argument on the thread on the scale of 10 with some guidance.
This cannot replace the experience of the actual GD but this exercise will surely help you shape your line of thought. While we may not be able to help you here with your delivery, we ensure that if you go through these next few weeks with us on this thread you will markedly improve your content. Hopefully, there will be more substance when you actually speak in a GD after going through this exercise.
You can go through all the topics in the series over here
Highlights of the Union Budget are available here
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Comments
Mehendi
It is very relevant to a Common Man. It leaves him alone! And by the way, it does throw a few scraps of subsidies (most of which is siphoned off by rich and powerful) for him to dream about. Common Man, left to himself, will progress if provided with an opportunity and a skill. Market is no constraint in India. If supported by a Professional Organization, he can create wonders.
4 Mar 2013, 10.48 PM
@bhaskar12del
This budget seems to have detoured from the needs and dreams of the common man; it just adds to the confusion that is already existing, providing no clear solution . No significant policy has been formulated to tackle inflation or revive growth in the economy in order to create employment and thus sustain the population explosion. Rising healthcare costs and the pathetic conditions of senior citizens still remain a concern. Regarding taxation: The common man is always taxed, be it direct or indirect: So there seems to be no relief on this front. Also, social change will never come with one or many isolated measures, merely opening a bank for women is not going to deter crime or change a mindset! This budget may not be harsh, but it is certainly not citizen friendly!
5 Mar 2013, 12.49 AM
sayali
This year's union budget did not increase burden of taxation on middle man who forms a large portion of common man. The budget is putting burden on super rich Indians not on middle man.The budget would not be in favor of common man entirely, but it has not made our lives difficult.Budget talks about fighting inflation, improving growth prospectus which will in turn benefit common man.It has allocated money for safety of women and proposed all women bank which is a good start in treating women with respect and giving them freedom as well as job opportunities. Indirect taxation and unavoidable prize rise in diesel, petrol etc may harm common man. I would say in nutshell that budget is balanced one and a good effort towards saving India's badly hit economy.
7 Mar 2013, 12.57 AM
Mithu
It is to be noted that budget enjoys no more the significance that it enjoyed a few years ago. Nowadays it has become merely a "non-eventful" event. Mr.Arvind kejriwal ,party chief of AAP has stated that the budget does not address the basic problem faced by the common man viz corruption and wonders how could this be of any value to the aam admi. But, on the other hand,one has to note that even Mr.Nitish Kumar, who is part of the opposition has lauded the budget for its pro-people and pro-poor reforms. Rs.18000 crore for the food security and Rs.1000 crore for the skill development are definitely to help the common man. Even the cess of Rs.2000 can be considered as the move aimed for welfare. So the budget definitely is relevant to the common man though it could have been more.
13 Mar 2013, 12.26 PM
Vicky
The budget has favorable terms for common man. Increased Government spending on Agriculture, Rural development, Healthcare are some of the positive aspects of the budget. And the spending also favored women. But at the same time, there are some aspects of the budget that makes us look into it with ambiguity. Especially, the increased spend on Planned expenditure is a signal that it is a safety stock for government because it can cut down on it if needed. And the less favorable unplanned budget may provide low incentive for the Business entities to expand their investment. This actually has 2 negative outcomes that are going to affect common man. Firstly, this decision may lead to reduced export and increased imports that would increase our current account deficit. And Secondly, it would favor increased unemployment burdern to a common Indian. The Government also assumes that it could earn its revenues from telecom sector and by selling its stakes in companies. But there is a great chance that it may not happen as it is expected, in which case, it brings added trouble.
14 Mar 2013, 02.55 AM
Nikil
The Union Budget always has relevance to the common man because what it entails is the plan that the government would follow in spending the public money. So, it is important that the common man plays an active role in understanding and questioning the provisions of budget. In terms of this years budget, it can be said that government had shown intentions of helping the common man. Though there have not been any game changing policy decisions. Even if, the tax rebate for low income population, high expenditure on primary education, health and agriculture were the positives, there were other decisions like increase in oil prices, indirect taxation which government had to take, which were against the common man. It can be said that government had no choice in taking these decisions because fiscal deficit was looming large. But one would have expected more action oriented decisions by the government in this budge to revive the growth engine of the economy.
20 Mar 2013, 10.16 PM