Budget 2022: Know the history of budget in India since independence
By Lokmat English Desk | Published: January 14, 2022 05:39 PM2022-01-14T17:39:54+5:302022-01-14T17:39:54+5:30
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Everyone is eagerly waiting for the union budget. Everyone expects this year's budget to be people-oriented. However, the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will release the 2022-23 Budget on February 1, 2022, at 11 am.
The origin of the word budget
The word budget is derived from the Latin word bulge in French, meaning a leather bag. After which the English word bogett then came into existence and the word budget emerged from this word.
The budget was first presented by the British government
The budget is actually an account of the country's income and expenditure for a given year by the government. It was started by Britain. The budget was first presented in India on 7 April 1860 during British rule by James Wilson, Finance Minister in the British Government.
Independence India's first budget
The first budget was presented on November 26, 1947, by RK Shanmukham Chetty, the first Finance Minister of India.
The budget was presented by three prime ministers
The country's budget is always presented by the finance minister, but there have been three occasions in India's history when the prime minister has presented a union budget. India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru is the first person to hold the highest office in presenting India's budget
This finance minister could not present the budget
Casey Niyogi was the only Indian finance minister who did not present a single budget during his tenure. Meanwhile, in 1948, he was the finance minister for 35 days. The first budget after the establishment of the Republic of India was presented by Jan Mathai on 28 February 1950.
Why is the budget presented at 11 o'clock?
The budget is always presented at 11 a.m. Meanwhile, this is not happening from the beginning. Earlier in the British period, the budget was presented at 5 pm, so that the officers working on the budget overnight could get some rest. Not only that, but the budget till 1955 was only in English.
The tradition of the "Halwa" during the Budget session
Meanwhile, the idea behind the Halwa program is to eat something sweet before doing every auspicious deed, and to continue this tradition there is a Halwa eating event during the budget session.
What is a 'Red leather bag'?
In the days of the British, when the finance minister was reporting the government's expenditure and revenue in the parliament, it was brought in a red leather bag. This was due to the factors associated with his name and this tradition continued. But the BJP government ended the tradition of the red bags.
Women presenting the budget
Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was the first woman to present a budget for an independent India. When she was the Prime Minister, she also handled the finance department and presented the budget. Subsequently, on 5 July 2019, Nirmala Sitharaman was the first Indian to present the country's budget
