Budget 2002 perpetuates the class system between the purely Government officials and the rest of the employees in the private and public sector. The fancy houses and phones and the housing and car loans availed by Government officials are tax free. In the case of the rest, these perks are taxable.

Dinesh K. Kapila, on e-mail

There has been no effort in the budget to curb wasteful public expenditure. The anticipated deficits and consequent reliance on borrowing will drive India further into its agonising debt squeeze. Also, there is no indication of attempts to plug leakages in expenditure. The anti-corruption bills still show no sign of seeing the light of day in Parliament. The inevitable leakage of funds will curb real infrastructural improvement and the anticipated consequential growth.

S. Suchindranath Aiyer, Bangalore

Finance minister Yashwant Sinha should seriously consider cancelling all the tax-free incomes and freebies currently enjoyed by politicians rather than take away the incentives available to the middle class. As it is, once they retire, salaried people only have the income from their savings to bank upon.

G.R. Jhaver, Mumbai

Taxing Benefits

Till Now, the major selling point for insurance policies was their tax benefits ("The Whining Class", March 18). Most Indians don't see insurance as a tool to cover risk but as an investment that will provide tax benefits. The blame for building up this misconception is to be taken by our traditional insurance companies like the LIC and the GIC. The Government's move to progressively reduce tax rebates on insurance premium is going to pose a serious challenge to these institutions.

Vidyashankar Gurumurthy, Chennai

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