No respite for common man: CM

Bhubaneswar: Dubbing Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee`s act of raising the base rate of excise duty as a "regressive" measure, chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday said this would hurt household budgets. "The union budget proposal for 2011-12 hardly offers any respite to our common masses from soaring food prices. On the contrary raising the […]

Bhubaneswar: Dubbing Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee`s act of raising the base rate of excise duty as a "regressive" measure, chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday said this would hurt household budgets.

"The union budget proposal for 2011-12 hardly offers any respite to our common masses from soaring food prices. On the contrary raising the base rate of excise duty from 4 per cent to 5 per cent will hurt household budget," Patnaik told reporters while reacting to the Union budget.