Congress on Wednesday backed the demands raised before Finance Minister P Chidambaram by a women’s delegation headed by Union Minister Renuka Chaudhury and comprising film star Preity Zinta for sops for women in the forthcoming Union Budget, indicating that women folk could expect several benefits this Budget.

The ruling party has already put its wish-list in front of the Finance Minister, strongly pushing for a range of incentives in the Budget benefiting the aam aadmi (common man), farmers and weaker sections of the society.
AICC spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan said the government should waive off the loans pending against widows of farmers who had committed suicide due to mounting debt. “There should be increasing access for them to all types of credits, especially from commercial banks and cooperatives, and not just micro-financing on which the emphasis is now,” she said.