Union Budget 2022

Riya Krishna Jan 31, 2022 352 0

The Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitaraman is expected to present the budget on February 1. This budget will be the fourth one presented by the Narendra Modi led BJP government during its second tenure. The Budget session will start at the Parliament around 11 am on February 1, 2022.

Year on year, the Union Government generally hosts the customary Halwa Ceremony to mark the final stage of the Union Budget making process. However, in compliance with the pandemic necessitated safety protocols, this year sweets were distributed to the core staff at their own workplaces instead of the customary Halwa ceremony due to the ongoing pandemic and health safety concerns.

What is special about the 2022 budget?

Setting a new trend, the Union Budget of 2021-22 was presented in paperless form for the first time in the history of the country. Budget 2022-23 will also follow the same trend in furthering environmental friendly initiatives. Also, the government had launched a ‘Union Budget Mobile App’, which facilitated hassle-free access of the budget documents for the members of parliament (MPs) and the general public in the country. Once the Budget session is complete on February 1, 2022 in the parliament, Union Budget 2022-23 will also be available on the Mobile App.

Eight interesting facts about India's Union Budget:

1) So far Morarji Desai has presented 10 Union Budgets in Parliament which is the highest by a single finance minister followed by former FM P. Chidambaram, former FM Pranab Mukherjee , former FM Yashwant Sinha , and former FM Manmohan Singh.

2) In the year 2017, the Rail Budget was merged with the Union Budget. Also, since the said year, the Budget has been presented on 1 February following the changes introduced by the then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

3) Until 1955, the Union Budget was presented in English. After that year, the Congress-led government decided to print the Budget papers in both Hindi and English.

4) The first independent budget of India was presented by RK Shanmukhan Chetty on November 26, 1947.

5) Railway and union budget was presented separately till 2017 after which they merged into a single presentation.

6) In 2019, Sitharaman ditched the traditional Budget briefcase, instead, she carried a Red packet with the National Emblem wrapped with a ribbon.

7) Indira Gandhi was the first woman finance minister to present the Budget in 1970, followed by Nirmala Sitharaman in 2019.

8) It was introduced on 7 April 1860 by the East India Company to the British Crown. It was presented by a Scottish Economist and politician James Wilson. He established the weekly magazine "The Economist".

It is worth mentioning that in the year 2019, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman replaced the standard Budget briefcase with the traditional 'Bahi Khata' with the National Emblem. And, it was only in the last year that for the first time in Independent India's history, the Budget for FY 2021-22 is paperless. This was done keeping in view the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

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Riya Krishna