FinMin To Present Another ‘Paperless' Union Budget For 2022-23, Access Budget Docs On Mobile App

When Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presents the Union Budget 2022-23 on February 1 this year, it will carry on the GOI's ode to the humanity's efforts to go green on a large scale. The budget will be presented in paperless form once again. In another first, instead of the customary "halwa" (sweet semolina pudding), the core staff due to go into the "lock-in" period at the Ministry, were given sweets to mark the beginning of the final stage of preparing the Union Budget. The change was made keeping in view the pandemic and health safety protocols, inherent in that. The historic decision to deliver the Union Budget in paperless form was taken for the first time when Sitharaman presented the Budget for 2021-22 session. At that time, the "Union Budget Mobile App" was also launched so that the MPs, Parliament officials and general public could have a hassle-free access to the Budget documents. In 2021, for the first time since Independence, the budget papers weren't printed as a precautionary measure in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, just like last year, the Union Budget will be made with the help of about 100 employees, who stay together at their workplace right upto the time that the Budget papers are printed, sealed and delivered in the Parliament. In its message on the occasion, the Ministry informed that the Mobile app would provide 14 Union Budget documents, including the Minister's budget speech, annual financial statement (which forms the crux of the budget) and other sundry parts, as mandated in the Constitution. The mobile app will present the papers in English and Hindi languages. To download this app, members of the general public may visit http://indiabudget.gov.in http://indiabudget.gov.in. Photo-Social Media