New Delhi
The after-effects of the Covid pandemic continue to haunt a majority of Indians, especially on the economic front.
Their vulnerability and sense of distress-cum-uncertainty was revealed during the IANS-CVoter Post Budget survey conducted nationwide.
Even the latest Budget doesn’t seem to have significantly assuaged their worries going by the responses.
When the respondents were asked during the survey about their overall quality of life during the last year, 46.6 per cent of the respondents said it had deteriorated, while 24.5 per cent said that it had improved.
Another 25.5 per cent reckoned that it had remained the same.
When asked about what they think about the quality of their life in the coming year, the pessimism seemed to have declined considerably.
While 44.1 per cent of the respondents said that they expect it to deteriorate further, 39.7 per cent expected it to improve.
The main problem seems to be managing the finances of the household though inflationary expectations seemed to have cooled down a bit.
When asked if inflation will come down after this Budget, a significant 44.1 per cent said not at all.
But if you add up those who said it will come down and it will come down a little bit, 49.3 per cent responded positively.
However, Indians are still finding managing family expenses a challenge.
When asked if the Budget will push up family expenses, a majority of 60 per cent of the respondents answered in the affirmative while 25.5 per cent said it will allow them to save some money.
Interestingly, more than 23 per cent of the lower-income respondents felt that they will be able to save some money after the latest Budget.
This is in sharp contrast to the aftermath of the second wave when various CVoter surveys had found out that more than 65 per cent of Indians were finding it difficult to manage family expenses.
While they are not out of the woods yet, Indians think the aura of gloom and doom is fading.
The pandemic has turned the world upside down, deeply affecting the economy as well as lives of people. IANS