The budget session gets underway today after President Ram Nath Kovind addresses the members of parliament from both the lower and upper houses in the central hall at 11 PM. Proper arrangements of social distancing have been made given rising Covid cases.
The Parliament will start half an hour after the president’s address. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the economic survey today and the union budget will be presented tomorrow on 1st February.
Here are 10 facts about the budget session :
1) The session which begins on January 31 is scheduled to end on April 8
2) There will be no question hour or zero-hours in both houses of parliament during the first two days of the budget session.
3) There will be 29 sittings in the Budget session: 10 in the first part and 19 in the second part.
4) Before it is tabled in Parliament, a meeting of the Union Cabinet will be held on Tuesday at 10:10 am to approve the Union Budget 2022-23.
5) Due to Covid-19, from February 2 to February 11. The Rajya Sabha would meet from 10 am to 3 pm and the Lok Sabha will sit from 4 pm to 9 pm.
6) The Rajya Sabha is set to cut down the hour-long Zero Hour to 30 minutes as both Houses will get an hour less in the current arrangement. Lok Sabha is yet to decide the length of the Zero Hour.
7) There will be two major items of business during the first part of the Budget session: A discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address and a general discussion on the budget.
8) The government has tentatively fixed four days for discussion on Motion of Thanks, they will February 2, 3, 4, and 7.
9) There will be a recess from February 12 to March 13 during which the standing committees will examine the budgetary allocations for various ministries and departments and prepare reports.
10) Since the session is being held amidst the rise of Covid-19 cases across the nation, arrangements have been made to ensure the safety of the members. They will be allotted seats in Lok Sabha Chamber, Lok Sabha galleries, Rajya Sabha Chamber, and Rajya Sabha gallery.
