Parliament’s Budget Session starts from Jan 31, will continue till Apr 6

New Delhi: Parliament’s Budget Session will begin from January 31 with President Droupadi Murmu’s address to the joint sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

The Session will have 27 sittings and will continue till April 6 with a month-long recess to examine the budget papers, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget on February one. This would be the fifth Union Budget that Sitharaman would present.

The first part of the Budget Session will conclude on February 14, he said.

Parliament will reconvene on March 12 for the second part of the Budget Session.

“Amid Amrit Kaal looking forward to discussions on Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address, Union Budget & other items,” Joshi said.

The Union budget will be presented as the final full-year budget under PM Narendra Modi’s government, before the national elections slated for 2024.

The Union minister said during the Budget session of 2023, the recess will be from February 14 till March 12 to enable the department-related Parliamentary Standing Committees to examine the demands for grants and make reports relating to their ministries or departments.

During the first part of the Budget Session, the two Houses have a detailed discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address followed by a discussion on the Union Budget.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi will reply to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address, the Finance Minister will reply to the debate on the Union Budget.

During the second part of the Budget Session, the major focus is on the discussion on the demands for grants for various ministries apart from the government’s legislative agenda. The Union Budget, a money bill, is passed during this part of the session.

The work on the new Parliament building is being carried out as part of the Central Vista development. Those involved in the construction of the Parliament are confident that the second part of the Budget Session can be conducted in the new Parliament building.

During the last session, nine Bills were introduced in Lok Sabha and seven Bills were passed by the lower House of Parliament. The Rajya Sabha passed nine Bills and the total number of bills passed by both Houses of Parliament during the session was nine.

Earlier on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met several prominent economists as his government gets ready to present the Union Budget for 2023-24 amid global headwinds emanating from geopolitical tensions, said sources.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to present the Union Budget in the Lok Sabha on February 1. The minister has already met different stakeholders to elicit their views and suggestions for the Budget.

The Prime Minister’s meeting was also attended by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and other senior government officials. Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Suman Bery and other members were also present, said sources.

Economists who participated in the meeting, included Shankar Acharya, Ashok Gulati, and Shamika Ravi.

Several suggestions were made by economists during the meeting for boosting economic growth which is estimated to drop to 7 per cent in the current financial year from 8.7 per cent in 2021-22.

The economy is facing several challenges, including persistently high inflation, a depreciating rupee, and subdued growth in exports.

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine and disruptions in the global supply chains have adversely global economic growth.