#DecodingBudget: Before the D-day, 7 interesting facts about the budget
The day is finally here. NDA government will present its last full-fledged budget on 1st Feb. This is only the second time it will be presented on February 1, and the Railway budget will be merged with the Union budget. Do you know India's first budget was presented during British Raj in 1860? On pre-budget day, here are some lesser-known facts about our budget.
First things first, what's the Union budget?
The budgetary process, employees who work on it and the budget itself are shrouded in complete secrecy. This is with good measure as it gives an account of government finances: revenues from different sources against the expenses of all activities undertaken. It also contains estimates of next year's budget. The budget speech is usually divided into two parts: general economic survey and taxation proposals.
India's first budget was not presented on a February morning
India's first budget was under British rule. The then-FM James Wilson didn't present it in February and neither was it in the morning. It was presented in April 1860, at 5pm. The logic was to allow officials to rest after working the whole night.
Surprisingly, Independent India's first budget was an interim budget
Ironically, independent India's first budget was only for seven and half months. The budget passed by the Legislature the previous March for the financial year 1947-48 was invalid after the country was partitioned. Thus, Sir RK Shanmukham Chetty presented the budget before the public at the earliest. This was when the term "Interim budget," that is, budget for a short period came into being.
Morarji Desai: FinMin who presented maximum number of budgets
With ten budgets, Morarji Desai, who first became FinMin in 1959, has presented the highest number of financial-bills. He is followed by P Chidambaram's nine and Pranab Mukherjee's eight. Interestingly, Desai presented two budgets on his birthday, on February 29, in 1964 and 1968.
Only PMs to present budget are from Nehru-Gandhi family
Intriguingly, only Nehru-Gandhis have presented the budget while they were PMs. Nehru presented the budget when he was FM in 1958-59. Later, in 1970-71, the then-FM Desai protested against bank nationalization. PM Indira Gandhi, who was championing it, let him go. She became the first woman to present the budget. In 1987-89, Rajiv Gandhi sacked the then-FM VP Singh, and presented the budget himself.
Iconic budgets: Black Budget and Dream Budget
In India's history, some budgets have become iconic. One such was the 1973 budget presented by Yashwantrao Chavan. The budget deficit then was a whopping Rs. 550cr; thus, it got the moniker "Black Budget." FM Chidambaram's 1997 budget was deemed a "Dream Budget" as it lowered the income tax rates, removed the surcharge on corporate taxes and introduced a scheme to prevent black money.
When interim and final budget were presented by different parties
During two instances, the interim and final budgets were presented by different political parties. In 1991-92, Chandrashekhar government's FM Yashwant Sinha presented the interim budget. However, after coalition partner Congress(I) rescinded support, the government fell. Following elections, Congress won and Manmohan Singh presented the final budget. In 1996-97, this was necessitated due to elections: interim budget was by Singh and final budget by Chidambaram.
Now to some rituals: From leather bags to halwas
Finally, budget has its own rituals. For instance, the leather bag is a literal reference to the French "bougette," which is the the word budget's root. The bag's Indian version has undergone modifications: from a leather portfolio bag to an aluminium-rimmed attache case, in varied colors of black, red and brown. Another heart-warming tradition is treating budget officials to "halwa" before printing budget documents.
