Union Budget- Part 2

In the second part I will discuss how is the Union Budget presented and passed. 

Presentation of the Union Budget:  First of all the Secretary General of Lok Sabha   seeks the permission of the President of India, once the speaker agrees to the date as recommended by the Government. On the Budget the Finance Minister before presenting the final Budget presents a “Summary For the Cabinet” that contains all the budget proposals. Finally the Budget is presented in the LokSabha with the key estimates and proposals.

Well, the speech of the Finance Minister is divided into two parts that is part A and part B. Part A consists of the general economic survey of the country and the policy statements where as Part B consists of the tax proposals. After the Fin Min has given the Budget Speech an “Annual Financial Statement” is given in the Rajya Sabha.

Following are the Budget Documents that are presented:

·         Annual Financial Statement.

·         Demands for Grants.

·         Receipts for Budget.

·         Expenditure Budget Vol-1.

·         Expenditure Budget Vol-2.

·         Finance Bill.

·         Memorandum explaining Finance Bill.

·         Budget at a Glance.

·         Highlights of Budget.

·         Status of Implementation of Announcements.

·         Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act.

·         Key to Budget Documents.

·         Budget Speech.

Passing of the Union Budget: After the Budget is passed, a general discussion takes place which is then followed by a detailed debate.

 The General Discussion takes place in  Lok Sabha for two to three days where a “Vote on Account” for carrying out the expenditure is obtained from the Parliament and the Finance Minister is posed with questions from all the parties regarding any amendment that is to be brought in the proposed Union Budget. At the end of the discussion the FM answers to all these questions. After this, the House is adjourned for few days.

When the house is reopened a detailed discussion takes place where the demands for grants are put by standing committees. Any member of the parliament can propose for a cut in the allocation of funds through any of the following cut motions :

1.       Disapproval of Policy Cut.

2.       Economy Cut.

3.       Token Cut.

The speaker of the Lok Sabha then puts all the Demand for Grants in the Vote of the House and an Appropriation Bill is put to vote in Lok Sabha . After the Appropriation Bill the Finance Bill is passed by Parliament. It is also known as money bill and is required to be passed by both the houses of the parliament with the permission of the President within 75 days of introducing the bill. Once the Finance Bill is passed the Budget process is over.