Misdirected sops

Sir — The Government’s decision to accept, in principle, the ‘one rank one pension’ scheme for retired Armed Forces personnel and the concessions it has offered to the corporate sector, may be right, but they will not wash away the sins of the UPA regime.

The decisions announced in the interim Budget reflect more of the Congress’s desperation than sincerity. The sincerity could have been credible had the decisions been taken earlier. The moves are obviously to curry favour with the Armed Forces personnel in a desperate bid to counter the BJP’s rising popularity among them. 

The interim Budget is, otherwise, disappointing. Income tax rates have been left unchanged. In view of the rising costs of living, relief should have been given to the salaried class. Concessions should been extended to senior citizens who maintain deposits with banks. Cars, bikes, mobiles and televisions are not purchased on a daily basis, but the Centre has given them excise duty cuts. Instead, the cost of essential commodities should have been cut.