Nirmala Sitharaman to break Morarji Desai’s record for most budget presentations
New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to make history on Tuesday by presenting her seventh Union Budget in Parliament, surpassing former Finance Minister Morarji Desai’s record of six. Desai served as Finance Minister under Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi before becoming Prime Minister in 1977.
The first budget of independent India was presented by Finance Minister RK Shanmugam Chetty on November 26, 1947, amounting to ₹197.1 crore. This has grown significantly, with the budget for the last financial year reaching ₹47.65 lakh crore.
Historically, the budget presentation time was 5 PM until Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha moved it to 11 AM in 1999, a practice that continues today.
Data from the Lok Sabha Secretariat reveals that there have been instances when the Prime Minister, rather than the Finance Minister, presented the general budget. For instance, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru presented the budget for the financial year 1958-59 while temporarily handling the finance portfolio. Similarly, Indira Gandhi presented the Budget for FY1969-70 after Morarji Desai’s resignation.
In 2019, due to the ill health of then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the budget was presented by his colleague, Minister Piyush Goyal.
It is notable that the Railways ministry, which previously had a separate budget, merged with the general budget in 2017.
After presenting the Budget in the Lok Sabha, the Finance Minister also tables the budget papers in the Rajya Sabha. However, the Upper House does not have jurisdiction to approve or disapprove the Budget.
The Budget discussions include debates on ministry-specific allocations or Demands for Grants. These demands are then collectively passed through a process known as Guillotine.
While the Rajya Sabha can debate the budget, it lacks the power to alter or reject it. Following the debate, the Rajya Sabha refers the budget back to the Lok Sabha.
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MP cruise boat tragedy: Death toll rises to nine; search ops continue at Bargi Dam
Jabalpur (PTI): The death toll in the Bargi Dam tragedy rose to nine on Friday, as rescuers recovered the bodies of five more persons who were on the cruise boat that overturned in the reservoir in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur.
Talking to PTI Videos, Madhya Pradesh Tourism Minister Dharmendra Bhav Singh Lodhi said, "Four bodies were recovered on Thursday, while five were found in the early hours during the rescue operation, taking the toll to nine."
As many as 22 people have been rescued so far, he said.
The minister said that a thorough probe will be conducted, and the issue of life jackets, raised by one of the survivors, will also be investigated.
The rescue operation is underway in full swing to trace the missing persons, Lodhi said.
A cruise boat with 29 passengers and two crew members onboard overturned in the Bargi Dam after encountering a sudden storm on Thursday evening, officials said.
The Bargi Dam is constructed on the Narmada River in Jabalpur district.
A search and rescue operation for the missing passengers continued overnight with teams from the Army, NDRF and SDRF joining in, State PWD Minister Rakesh Singh said.
Hydraulic cranes are being used to pull out the cruise boat from the water body, he said.
According to eyewitnesses, strong winds made the water choppy, prompting many on board to raise an alarm and ask the crew to steer the boat back to the banks.
However, the crew was unable to hear these shouts, and the boat drifted and then overturned, they said, adding that some locals rescued a few passengers wearing life jackets with the help of a rope.
