News Analysis India

Tag: Union Budget 2021

  • Finance Minister Sitharaman to table Economic Survey 2020-21 on Friday

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will table the Economic Survey 2020-21 in Parliament on Friday, two days before the Union Budget is presented during the budget session of Parliament.

    The Economic Survey, which is presented on the opening day of the budget session, provides a summary of the annual economic development across the country during the financial year.

    The annual survey analyses the trends in infrastructure, agricultural and industrial production, employment, prices, exports, imports, money supply, foreign exchange reserves and other factors having an impact on the Indian economy and the budget.

    The survey also puts out economic growth forecasts, provides justification and detailed reasons why it believes the economy will expand faster or decelerate. Sometimes, it also argues for some specific reform measures.

    The Union Budget 2021 will be telecast live on Lok Sabha TV. Chief Economic Adviser KV Subramanian will address a press conference at 2.30 pm today in New Delhi after the presentation of Economic Survey 2020-21 by the Finance Minister in Parliament.

    The Budget Session will begin today with an address by President Ram Nath Kovind to the joint sitting of two houses of Parliament.

    The first part of the session will continue till February 15. The second part of the session will be held from March 8 to April 8.

    Rajya Sabha will function from 9 am to 2 pm and Lok Sabha from 4 pm to 9 pm with Zero Hour and Question Hour.

    Members of Parliament have been requested to undergo an RT-PCR test against COVID-19 before the start of the Budget session.

  • Budget session: BSP will boycott President’s address, says Mayawati

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Bahujan Samaj Party will boycott the president’s address to the joint sitting of both Houses over the Centre’s stand on the farmers’ demand to repeal the new agri laws and its “dilly-dallying” approach on matters of public interest, the party’s chief Mayawati said on Friday.

    She made the announcement just hours before President Ram Nath Kovind’s address to the joint sitting of both Houses, making BSP the 19th party to announce boycott of the address.

    A day before the start of the Budget session of Parliament, as many as 18 opposition parties, led by the Congress, the NCP, the Shiv Sena and the TMC, had decided on Thursday to boycott the president’s address in solidarity with the farmers protesting against the new farm laws.

    “In protest over (the Centre) not accepting the farmers’ demand of repealing the three controversial agri laws and adopting a dilly-dallying approach in matters of public interest, the BSP has decided to boycott the president’s address in Parliament,” Mayawati said in a tweet in Hindi.

    “Also, I request the Centre to take back the farm laws and normalise the situation in Delhi. Innocent farmers should not be made a scapegoat in the the wake of the violence on Republic Day. There is a lot of truth in the objection of BKU and other leaders from UP in this matter,” she said.

    While 16 opposition parties issued a joint statement announcing their decision to boycott the president’s address, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had also separately announced their decision to boycott the address.

    The parties that jointly announced that they will boycott the president’s address were the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party, the National Conference, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Trinamool Congress, the Shiv Sena, the Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the CPI, the Indian Union Muslim League, the RSP, the People’s Democratic Party, the MDMK, the Kerala Congress (M) and the All India United Democratic Front.

  • BJP slams opposition parties for decision to boycott President’s address to Parliament

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Slamming opposition parties for their decision to boycott the President’s address to Parliament, the BJP on Thursday accused them of “constitutional and moral bankruptcy”.

    BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said if these parties think that the Modi government will backtrack from its support to three farm laws due to their collective pressure, then they should know that they lack such strength and that this dispensation bows only before people.

    Addressing a press conference, Bhatia said opposition parties had been calling for a session all this while as he hit out at them for their decision to boycott the address.

    A day before the start of the Budget Session of Parliament, 16 opposition parties led by the Congress, NCP, Shiv Sena and the TMC on Thursday decided to boycott the President’s address to the joint sitting of Parliament in solidarity with the farmers protesting the new farm laws.

    The BJP spokesperson said all major opposition parties had spoken before these laws were passed in the last session, rejecting their contention that the government had rammed through these legislations without following due consultation.

    What they have shown with this decision is their constitutional and moral bankruptcy, he said.

    Parties like the Shiv Sena had even supported these laws in Parliament before making a U-turn, so did the Shiromani Akali Dal, he said.

    Bhatia also lashed out at opposition parties like the Congress, TMC and the Samajwadi Party for not “condemning” the “anarchy” protesting farmers unleashed in the national capital on Republic Day and “insult” to the national flag.

    Some opposition leaders had disapproved of the violence but alleged that the government’s refusal to heed the farmers’ demand to repeal these laws was a factor in it.

    Bhatia said it is the government which has shown much flexibility and an open mind in its talks with farmer union leaders.

    He also lauded the Delhi Police for its restrain and overall handling of the situation.

  • Stormy Budget session on cards as Opposition set to corner Modi government on farm laws, economy, LAC standoff

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The crucial Budget session of Parliament is set for a stormy start with as many as 18 opposition parties announcing their decision to boycott the President’s address to a joint sitting of both houses on Friday, in solidarity with the farmers agitating against the three contentious farm laws.

    The session is also likely to witness acrimonious scenes, with the opposition all set to corner the government on issues like recession, job losses, handling of COVID crisis, LAC stand-off with China and the WhatsApp chat leaks of Arnab Goswami.

    Alleging that the farm laws have been pushed by the BJP government without a national consensus, the opposition parties announced their decision on Thursday to boycott the President’s address, a move termed as “most unfortunate” by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi.

    To seek the cooperation of various parties for the smooth functioning of the Budget session, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has convened a meeting of all political parties on Friday which is expected to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    The session will begin with the President’s address followed by the presentation of the Economic Survey.

    The Union Budget will be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1.

    Both the houses will also debate on the Motion of thanks to the President’s address after the budget presentation.

    The session will be held in two parts –January 29 to February 15 and March 8 to April 8 and will have a total of 33 sittings.

    With the session starting barely days after the national capital witnessed unprecedented violence on Republic Day during the farmers’ tractor parade, the issue is expected to echo in Parliament.

    A total of 18 Opposition parties including the Congress, the NCP, Shiv Sena, DMK, Trinamool Congress, CPI, CPI-M and RJD and some other parties have announced that they would boycott the President’s address.

    There are over 20 opposition parties in Parliament.

    Joshi has appealed to all the parties to reconsider their decision to boycott, saying the President is above party politics.

    He also claimed that the BJP has never boycotted the President’s address when it was in the opposition, and said the issues raised by the opposition parties can be raised during the debate on the motion of thanks to the President’s address.

    The parties that will boycott the President’s address are –the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, National Conference, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena, Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Communist Party of India (Marxist), CPI, Indian Union Muslim League, RSP, Peoples Democratic Party, MDMK, Kerala Congress (M) and the All India United Democratic Front.

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    The Shiromani Akali Dal and Aam Aadmi Party also separately announced their decision of boycotting the address.

    “The Prime Minister and the BJP government remain arrogant, adamant and undemocratic in their response. Shocked by this insensitivity of the government, the opposition political parties, reaffirming the collective demand for the repeal of the anti-farmer laws and in solidarity with the Indian farmers, have decided to boycott the President’s address to both the houses of Parliament,” a joint statement issued by 16 parties said on Thursday.

    The statement was released by Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad.

    Azad alleged that the Opposition is against the manner in which the three bills were passed in Parliament after rules and regulations were “thrown in the dustbin”.

    The parties have alleged that the farm bills were brought without any consultations with states and farmer unions, and lacked national consensus.

    “Parliamentary scrutiny was bypassed and the laws were pushed through muzzling the Opposition, in brazen violation of Parliamentary rules, practices and conventions.

    The very constitutional validity of these laws remains in question,” they said, adding that the laws are an assault on the rights of the states and violate the federal spirit of the Constitution.

    Terming the boycott as “unprecedented”, CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury said, “tomorrow in all likelihood, only the ruling party will be in attendance. This an indication to the degree to which our institutions are being destroyed. It is a sorry state of affairs for parliamentary democracy.”

    It is after almost six months that the Parliament will be convened, as the Winter session could not be held due to the COVID pandemic.

    With a view to have a paperless Budget, all the documents and the Economic Survey would be made available online soon after the authenticated copies are laid on the Table of the House, the Lok Sabha Secretariat has said.

    This session will be held as per COVID-19 protocols, with Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha meeting in shifts of five hours each — with the upper house meeting from 9 AM to 2 PM and the lower house in the evening from 3 PM to 8 PM.

    This is also the first time when the members of both the Houses will be seated in three different locations – chambers of both houses and the Central Hall.

    The Question Hour, which could not take place during the Monsoon session, has also made a comeback in this session.

    The Monsoon session also saw the two Houses working on Saturdays and Sundays.

    But this time, Parliament will not sit on weekends.

    Private Members’ business, which usually takes place on Friday afternoons, will also be part of the Budget session, according to the Lok Sabha secretariat.

    In the previous session, the Private Members’ business was not taken up.

    During the session, the government will also push to convert ordinances issued recently into laws.

    An ordinance has to be converted into a law within 42 days of the beginning of the session, else it lapses.

    The ordinances issued recently include The Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Ordinance 2020, The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 and The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021.

  • All MPs will be requested to undergo COVID-19 test before Budget session: Om Birla

    The Lok Sabha Speaker said all necessary coronavirus related protocols, including maintaining social distancing and sanitisation, will be followed during the session.