Dehradun, Feb. 2 -- Gone are the days when the Union Budget was a straightforward and easily understood statement of accounts. People heard the Finance Minister mostly to learn how much income tax was being increased or decreased. Any decrease led to nationwide celebration. Now, the numbers are secondary. It is now a carefully calibrated arrangement of 'pull and push' incentives that addresses the most specific of sub-sectors in the attempt to energise the economy. It is hard for the layperson to make sense of the intricate web that has been weaved.
This year's budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, for the ninth consecutive time, is an example of this phenomenon. The numbers by themselves are basically strong - the fisca...