Rae Bareli, February 20
The ‘aam aadmi’ once again was in focus when UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi today hoped Finance Minister P Chidambaram would keep their problems in mind when he presents the union budget for 2008-09 in Parliament on February 29.

“While preparing the budget I am sure the Finance Minister will consider the difficulties faced by the common man, especially women and farmers,” said Sonia Gandhi at a gramotsav which was part of the 100-year celebrations of the Bank of Baroda in her Parliamentary constituency of Rae Bareli.

Approving the government’s economic growth rate of 8-9 per cent, the Congress President said that it had made the world sit up and look at our economic policies. “However this alone cannot bring real happiness to the common people, as it would require stable economic growth impacting their lives and reducing their daily burden. Health and education for all is key to achieving real happiness”, she underlined.

At the public function at the Feroze Gandhi Institute of Engineering Technology 1,000th Self Help Group and 151 Krishak clubs were formally linked with banks.

Calling women borrowers the most credit worthy Finance Minister Chidambaram reminded large crowds of SHG women present on the occasion that banks were doing them no favour by lending them money. Minister of state for finance Pawan Kumar Bansal announced the launching of the first mobile micro-credit loaning system in Rae Bareli today under which loan facilities will be given to them at their doorsteps. “Now no woman or farmer would have to suffer loss of a day’s wage simply to visit a bank,” he declared.

Later, the UPA president laid the foundation stone of the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology in Jaes that falls under Amethi constituency.

Speaking at the function Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi declared that soon Rae Bareli and Amethi would emerge as the educational hub producing skilled manpower in frontier technologies.