Nirmala Sitharaman ends British tradition, arrives at budget session with 'Bahi Khata' not briefcase
New Delhi: Giving an Indian touch to the Budgetary exercise, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Friday carried the Budget documents to Parliament in a red bag, reminiscent of the traditional 'bahi-khata' (ledger).
Earlier, finance ministers in different governments used a briefcase to carry budget documents, a practice considered as a British tradition.
"I thought it was better we move out from British handhold. And I thought it was good enough to do something on our own. It was easier for me to carry also and very Indian," she said in the customary briefing post Budget presentation.
Sitharaman, the first full-time woman finance minister of the country, carried the budget documents draped in a red silk cloth with national emblem.
During the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, the then finance minister Yashwant Sinha broke the one colonial tradition of budget presentation at 5 pm.
Since then all governments have been presenting the budget at 11 am. Bahi-khata is referred to books of account maintained by traditional Indian businessmen.
Commenting on the shift from a briefcase to bahi-khata, Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian said the government is following "Indian tradition".
"It is in Indian tradition. It symbolises our departure from slavery of Western thought. It is not a Budget, but a Bahi-Khata (ledger)," he added.
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Veteran Congress leader Mohsina Kidwai passes away at 94
New Delhi (PTI): Veteran Congress leader and former Union minister Mohsina Kidwai passed away on Wednesday, her family said. She was 94.
Kidwai passed away at Noida's Metro Hospital early in the morning. She was suffering from age-related ailments, her son-in-law Razi Ur Rehman Kidwai said.
She will be cremated at the graveyard in Nizamuddin around 5 pm, he said.
Kidwai is a former Union minister who held important portfolios in the Rajiv Gandhi government. She has been a member of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha at various points in time.
Kidwai has also served as a member of the Congress Working Committee and the party's Central Election Committee in the past.
