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Now there are only a few days left for the presentation of the general budget. On February 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the annual budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year. This time there is also going to be a big change in him. The country’s budget will also be green this year. Due to the Kovid epidemic, the filing of tax proposals and the printing of a large number of documents related to the financial statements of Asia’s third-largest economy will also not take place this time. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her fourth budget on February 1, 2022.
Officials said the budget documents would mostly be available in digital format. Only a few copies will be physically available. Several hundred copies of the budget document have been printed. In terms of numbers, this was such an elaborate process that even the printing staff had to be isolated inside the printing shop in the North Block ‘basement’ for at least a few weeks.
However, it will be necessary to isolate a small group of employees to digitize the compilation of budget documents. Since the Modi government came to power, the printing of budget copies has decreased. Initially, copies distributed to outside journalists and analysts were scaled back and later to Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs citing the pandemic.
The budget document usually includes the finance minister’s speech to Parliament, the highlights, the annual financial statement, the finance bill containing the tax proposals, a memorandum explaining the provisions of the finance bill, and the macroeconomic framework statement. These also include medium-term fiscal policy with fiscal policy strategy statement, results framework for schemes, customs notification, implementation of previous budget announcements, receipt budget, expenditure budget, and budget estimates.
Skipped the traditional Halwa ceremony
This year more restrictions have been imposed regarding the new form of Kovid-19, Omicron. According to sources, the traditional halwa ceremony has also been abandoned due to the pandemic. The office of the Ministry of Finance is located in the North Block itself. The work of the employees who stay away from their families and the printing of the budget document has started with the traditional ‘Halwa ceremony’. The event was attended by the Minister of Finance, the Minister of State for Finance and senior officials of the Ministry.