BUDGET LIVE | FM proposes health reforms; emphasises Viksit Bharat
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday (February 1) is presenting the Modi 2.0 government's last Budget before the general elections, which is likely to contain a mix of measures for the economy and electorally significant segments like farmers and women.
Peppered with political innuendos, her sixth straight Budget may present a political document with a snapshot of the Modi government's triumphs over the last 10 years and pointers to how it wants to take the country forward.
With pressure for populist measures off after recent emphatic wins in three states, she is expected to stick to being fiscally prudent while sprinkling sops on sectors like agriculture and engines of the economy that would create jobs and boost consumption.
To watch the Budget presentation live, at 11 am, click here.
Click here for The Federal's extensive coverage of Interim Budget 2024-25.
Live Updates
- 1 Feb 2024 10:24 AM IST
Tradition-tech marriage continues
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday again took a digital tablet wrapped in a traditional “bahi-khata” style pouch as she headed for Parliament to present the interim Budget 2024-25 in a paperless format just like the previous three years.
She posed for the traditional “briefcase” picture outside her office, along with her team of officials, before heading to meet the President. She was holding a tablet instead of a briefcase to present the Budget in a digital format.
With the tablet carefully kept inside a red cover with a golden-coloured national emblem embossed on it instead of the briefcase, she went straight to Parliament after meeting President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Sitharaman, India’s first full-time woman Finance Minister, had in July 2019 ditched the colonial legacy of a Budget briefcase for the traditional “bahi-khata” to carry Union Budget papers. She used the same in the following year, and in a pandemic-hit 2021, she swapped traditional papers with a digital tablet for carrying her speech and other Budget documents.
That tradition has continued on Thursday.
(With agency inputs)
