New Delhi: Ahead of the presentation of the Union Budget 2022-23, a truck loaded with budget copies arrived at Parliament on Tuesday.
Earlier today, Sitharaman met President Ram Nath Kovind ahead of the Budget presentation. She was accompanied by Ministers of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, Bhagwat Karad and other officials from the Ministry.
Amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, replacing her signature 'bahi khata', she opted to carry the documents in a tablet, which was wrapped in a red-coloured cover with the national emblem emblazoned on it. Notably, several opposition parties in the Business Advisory Committee meeting that took place on Monday afternoon chaired by the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, objected to the government presenting a paperless Union Budget and Economic Survey.
Sources said that these Lok Sabha leaders conveyed to the government via the Speaker that it would be impossible to download every document from the internet, read it and process it in time for reactions. As per the sources, privy to the details of the meeting Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury floor leader of the Lok Sabha for the Congress, Sudip Bandyopadhyay from the TMC, Vinayak Raut from Shiv Sena, and Supriya Sule of NCP were some of the leaders who spoke about the subject.
Sources further stated that during the meeting, the Lok Sabha Speaker asked the government to see what can be done to address the concern of the opposition MPs. It is being said that in the meeting, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi told the opposition that he would take note of their concerns, although the people's budget and the survey was a huge boost to promote contactless documentation.
The Parliamentary Affairs Minister is also said to have told the members that he will be speaking to the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman about their concerns. The Budget speech will begin at around 11 am today with Sitharaman beginning it with an address to the speaker of Lok Sabha. Usually, the duration of the presentation ranges from 90 to 120 minutes.
On Monday, she tabled this year's Economic Survey, centred around the theme of "Agile approach", which forecasted India's economy to grow by 9.2 per cent during Financial Year 2021-22 and by 8-8.5 per cent in fiscal 2023 beginning 1 April. The Budget Session of the Parliament commenced on January 31 with President Ram Nath Kovind's address.
The first part of the Union Budget Session of Parliament will be held from January 31 to February 11 and the second part of the Budget Session will take place from March 14 to April 8. (ANI)
