President’s Budget Session Speech

What’s in Today’s Article?

• Why in News?
• Sessions of Parliament
• What is the Union Budget/ 'Annual Financial Statement'?
• President Address
• Highlights of the President’s Budget Session Speech
• Economic Achievements Highlighted by the President

Why in News?

• The Budget Session of Parliament, which is the last before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, began with an address by President Droupadi Murmu to a joint sitting of both houses of Parliament.
• President Murmu began her address in Parliament recounting the government’s achievements for the year 2023-24, from the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill, to India’s 100+ tally at Asian Games.

Sessions of Parliament

• According to Article 85(1) of the Indian Constitution, the President shall from time to time summon each House of Parliament to meet at such time and place as he thinks fit.
  • However, six months shall not intervene between its last sitting in one session and the date appointed for its first sitting in the next session.
• In reality, the power to convene a session of Parliament rests with the government and the decision is taken by the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs.
• As India does not have a fixed parliamentary calendar, Parliament meets for three sessions (by convention) in a year.
• The longest, the Budget Session, starts towards the end of January, and concludes by the end of April or first week of May.
  • The session (which starts with the presentation of the Union Budget) has a recess so that Parliamentary Committees can discuss the budgetary proposals.

What is the Union Budget/ 'Annual Financial Statement'?

• Article 112 of the Constitution requires the government to present to Parliament a statement of estimated receipts and expenditure in respect of every financial year, from April 1 to March 31.
  • This statement is called the annual financial statement.
• It is divided into three parts - Consolidated Fund, Contingency Fund and Public Account.
  • For each of these funds, the government has to present a statement of receipts and expenditure.

President Address

• Article 87 of the Constitution provides two instances when the President specially addresses both Houses of Parliament.
  • The President of India addresses both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha at the beginning of the first Session after each general election when the reconstituted lower house meets for the first time.
  • The President also addresses both the houses at the beginning of the first session of each year (Budget session).
• The President’s speech essentially highlights the government’s policy priorities and plans for the upcoming year and provides a broad framework of the government’s agenda and direction.

Highlights of the President’s Budget Session Speech

• Stating that it was her first address in the newly built Parliament building, President said the building was constructed during the beginning of the ‘Amrit Kaal’ and it has the essence of ‘Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat’.
• For her government the vision of developed India is not limited to economic prosperity alone, and equal importance is being given to social, cultural, and strategic strengths.
• The grand edifice of a developed India will stand on four strong pillars - youth power, women power, farmers and the poor and a big portion of tax has been utilised to empower them.
• Congratulating the PM for the Women’s Reservation Bill, she hailed the members for the passage of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (women’s reservation bill).
• Listing the achievements of the government in the past year/s, the president said -
  • India became the first nation to reach the south pole of the Moon.
  • The successful G20 Summit hosted by India strengthened the role of India in the world.
  • The country won more than 100 medals in the Asian Games.
  • People were hopeful of construction of Ram Temple (Ayodhya) for centuries and that dream has been fulfilled now.
  • People also wanted the abrogation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir. Now, Article 370 is also history.
  • This Parliament has made a strict law against triple talaq.
  • Defence production crossed the Rs 1 lakh crore mark.

Economic Achievements Highlighted by the President

• Amid serious global crises, India emerged as the fastest-growing major economy, consistently maintaining a growth rate of over 7.5% for two consecutive quarters.
• The Indian economy used to be among the “fragile five” but was now moving in the right direction and at the right pace due to several reforms undertaken by the government.
• Earlier, the country’s rate of inflation was in double digits which is now within 4% and in the last 10 years India has become one of the top five economies from ‘Fragile 5’.
• India’s exports have increased from about $450 billion to more than $775 billion. India has become the second-largest exporter of mobile phones in the world.
• FDI flows have doubled and today India has a Forex reservein excess of $600 billion.
• The sales of Khadi and Village Industries products have increased by more than four times and the number of people filing Income Tax Return has increased from about 3.25 crore to about 8.25 crore.
• The Centre is also working with full commitment to empower MSMEs, small entrepreneurs and creating a suitable environment for them.

Q1) What is the Consolidated Fund of India?

The Consolidated Fund of India was constituted under Article 266 (1) of the Constitution of India. All revenues received by the government by way of direct taxes and indirect taxes, money borrowed and receipts from loans given by the government flow into this fund.

Q2) What is the Contingency Fund of India?

Constituted under Article 267(1) of the Indian Constitution, the Contingency fund of India is used at a time when there is a crisis in the nation and money is required to deal with it. The Union government has its own contingency fund with a corpus of Rs 500 crore.

Source: From Ram Temple, women’s reservation to Article 370 abrogation: President Murmu’s Budget session speech in 10 points | TH | PRS | PRS | ET