2. A well planned ‘fun’
• For us students, the budget is the time when our parents
start worrying about their daily expenses.
• A time our parents ask us to be careful with our daily budget .
• We are the middle class students who live on the roadside
snacks and endless shopping at Janpath but we are also the
children of globalization .
• So, not only we enjoy eating the roadside ‘Golgappa‘ , but
also the ‘Aloo tikki’ burger from Mc Donalds .
• We plan our monthly budget accordingly, determined to
have ‘fun’.
3. Budget 2013 was closer to home?
• A Tax of 12 % was imposed on all restaurants which had Air
Conditioning .
• It means you have to pay more for that ‘Aloo Tikki’ burger you
were enjoying in 30 rupees or the softy you were enjoying at
KFC for mere 12 bucks .
• These fast food restaurants had already increased their rates
due to increase in the cost of raw materials , rent and
transportation .
• In fact, with the rising cost of electricity, more and more
homes are using lesser power but to charge extra just
because restaurants have AC is having a biased view .
4. Just a middle range joint
• Why club the middle range restaurants with the high end
ones who charge a bomb for the simplest of meals?
• Why put the tax on restaurants and fast food joints just
because they have AC?
• These places don’t serve liquor, they don’t have exorbitantly
priced dishes.
• They employ young men and women who work there part
time, to fund their education or for want of some extra
pocket money .
5. Utility rather than beauty
• By increasing the tax on these middle class fast food joints
and restaurants, the government has shown a completed lack
of understanding of the habits of the youth.
• Yes, tax the super rich, tax cigarettes and beedis , tax people
who buy yachts and SUVS and tax the high end restaurants
which are a favorite haunt of the rich and famous but do not
tax the reasonably priced eateries and joints, which have AC
more out of necessity than out of luxury .
• They have installed AC’s because we need them.
• In a country like India where people and crops die due to heat
wave , saying that AC’s amount to luxury is an irony.
6. • Now students will have to be even more careful with their
expenses .
• With rising cost of education , rents and even basic amenities
like food and water, the middle class students will be hit
badly .
• Many of them are funding their own education, living away
from home and their idea of eating out with friends and
families are food courts and fast food joints.
• Now, they will have to think twice about the amount they
spend outside
7. Once in a while
• Just like cold countries have heaters installed even in their
homes where it is not a luxury but a necessity , it has become
a necessity for us Indians to have air conditioning .
• We are a country that loves to eat .
• We are still a developing nation and all of us want to sit in the
new swanky Mc Donald’s outlet once in a while, spend some
time with our friends and family and bond with out loved
one’s with a KFC bucket .
• It is not just about the food, it’s about the experience.