The previous ’finances briefcase’ was changed with the ’bahi khata’
New Delhi:
For many years, finance ministers have been photographed carrying a briefcase into Parliament for the presentation of the Union Price range. The yr 2019 marked an enormous shift when Nirmala Sitharaman ditched this follow for a ’bahi khata’. She then opted for a paperless format in 2021 by utilizing a ’Made in India’ pill. The journey of the presentation of the Union Price range from briefcase to a very paperless mode is kind of fascinating.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is all set to current the Interim Price range for FY 2024-25 on February 1. A full-fledged Price range can be offered after the formation of the brand new authorities following the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
In 2019, Union Minister Piyush Goyal, whereas holding the extra cost of the Ministry of Finance, offered the final interim Price range. Ms Sitharaman offered her maiden Price range on July 5, 2019, after assuming cost because the finance minister following the Narendra Modi-led authorities’s second consecutive win within the basic elections.
Forward of the Price range 2024, let’s check out the historical past behind the Union Price range presentation train:
Briefcase
RK Shanmukham Chetty, the primary Finance Minister of unbiased India, continued with the British-era custom by carrying the paperwork associated to the primary Union Price range in a leather-based portfolio bag. This custom continued for the subsequent few years because the finance ministers used completely different briefcases for the Price range ceremony.
With time, this follow advanced as per the wants. Within the Seventies, finance ministers had began carrying a hardbound bag – the color of which continued to vary through the years.
This ’finances briefcase’ was a remnant of the colonial period and much like the Gladstone Field, named after the previous British Chancellor of the Exchequer, William Ewart Gladstone.
‘Bahi Khata’
The previous ’finances briefcase’ was changed with the ’bahi khata’ quickly after the Narendra Modi-led authorities secured a second consecutive time period.
Throughout her first Price range, Finance Minister Sitharaman drew the nation’s consideration by carrying a red-coloured ‘bahi khata’ in 2019, as an alternative of the briefcase. The rationale behind this seemed to be the renunciation of the colonial legacy.
Her resolution to make use of the ’bahi khata’ gave an Indian contact to the budgetary train because it has been utilized by enterprise homeowners for many years to keep up their accounts.
Again then, FM Sitharaman mentioned that it was ”simpler” to hold the ’bahi khata’ and it was ”very Indian”.
Pill
In 2021, the standard ’bahi khata’ gave technique to a extra trendy system as FM Sitharaman offered the Price range in a paperless format, utilizing a ’Made in India’ pill.
This transfer was additionally in tandem with Prime Minister Modi’s push for a ’Digital India’. This was additionally the primary Price range presentation because the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ms Sitharaman carried the pill in a pink ’bahi khata’-style pouch in 2021 and continued this follow in 2022 and 2023.
This yr too, the Finance Minister is predicted to current Price range 2024 in paperless format.