Jaswant to direct speech at consumers

In continuing with his tradition of breaking norms, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh may well switch to Hindi while presenting his maiden Budget on February 28. His speech is also unlikely to be laced with Tirukkural quotes or K3G jingles.

According to official sources, Singh would like to address the people in a language they understand best.

He is, therefore, likely to juggle between English and Hindi while making his short speech. Singh's speech is likely to last 40-42 minutes.

Throughout the presentation, the finance minister will be addressing the user or the consumer rather than the producer.

"For long, the focus of successive Budgets has been the producer. This time, it will be the user," a source close to the finance minister said.

Jaswant Singh is also likely to dwell more on people-centric issues. He will also take to his credit the resolution of the crisis at the Unit Trust of India, which directly affects the investments of millions of middle-class Indians.

Singh is likely to exhort individuals to take an equity bias, having put in a strong regulatory mechanism for the capital markets.

The sources said while a complete de-jargonising of financial terms was not possible, Singh's attempt would be to present the Budget in simple English and Hindi. They said the finance minister was busy drafting the Budget speech himself to lend it a unique flavour.