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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Bengaluru: Four arrested for housebreaking, threats, extortion; fake PSI among accused
Bengaluru: Vidyaranyapura police have arrested four persons, including a man posing as a Police Sub-Inspector (PSI), for allegedly breaking into a house, threatening the occupants, and extorting money while wearing police uniforms.
The arrested accused have been identified as Mallikarjuna, Pramod, Vinay, and Hrithik.
Police said the accused had hatched a plan to pose as police personnel, conduct fake raids, and extort money from residents by intimidation.
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According to the police, Mallikarjuna had failed the PSI examination twice and later falsely projected himself as a PSI. He allegedly conducted photo shoots in his hometown, Siraguppa, wearing a police uniform, baton, cap, and shoes, claiming to be serving as a PSI in Bengaluru.
On December 7, the four accused allegedly went to the house of Naveen in the Vidyaranyapura limits, threatened him with a stick and an iron rod, and claimed they had information that he was selling ganja. Under the pretext of searching, they allegedly extorted ₹87,000 through bank transfer, ₹53,000 in cash kept in the house, and ₹2,000 from his wallet.
Following Naveen’s complaint, Vidyaranyapura police registered a case and launched an operation, leading to the arrest of all four accused. Police have seized ₹45,000 in cash and the car used to commit the crime.
Further investigation is underway.
