Budget 2022 disappoints salaried, middle class alleges opposition

In a first political reaction on Union Budget 2022, Congress senior leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Prime Minister Narendra Modi disappointed the salaried class and the middle class population.

"India's Salaried Class and Middle Class were hoping for relief in times of pandemic, all round pay cuts and back breaking inflation. FM and PM have again deeply disappointed them in Direct Tax measures. This is a betrayal of India's Salaried Class and Middle Class," Surjewala tweeted.

The finance minister presented the Union Budget for FY 2022-23 on February 1. In her Union Budget 2022-23 speech, Sitharaman did not announce any change in income tax slabs for 2022-23. The income tax rates for 2022-23 were also not revised.

Surjewala also asked the FM about the legal acceptance of cryptocurrency in the country. "Is Crypto Currency now legal, without bringing the Crypto Currency Bill, as you tax the crypto currency?," he tweeted, asking three questions related to cryptocurrency: "What about its regulator? What about regulation of Crypto Exchanges? What about investor protection?"

Sitharaman has proposed to introduce Digital Rupee by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) using blockchain technology starting from 2022-23.