Govt may skip House panels to pass Budget

Pranab to meet state FMs to get their wish list

The Manmohan Singh government is likely to break with the past before presenting the first General Budget of the second United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. After many years, the Union finance minister will meet the finance ministers of the states to get their wish list for the General Budget. Besides, the government is also trying to curtail parliamentary deliberation by bypassing the Standing Committees and passing the Budget directly in the Lok Sabha, citing paucity of time.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on Monday held a meeting with Leader of Opposition Lal Krishna Advani to seek the BJP’s approval for bypassing the Parliamentary Standing Committee. According to the practice, after the Budget is placed in the Lok Sabha, different ministry-related Standing Committees scrutinise ministry demands and submit a report to the House. As this process takes four to six weeks, the government wants to avoid that route. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has already declared that the government wishes to pass the full Budget by July to avoid any financial lapse.

The Interim Budget, presented by Mukherjee in February, enables the government to run its expenses till July 31.

According to Congress sources, Advani has signalled a positive response while maintaining that he will discuss the government’s proposal in his party.

Although the UPA government enjoys the support of over 300 MPs in the 543-member House, as a matter of Parliamentary propriety, the ruling party needs the consent of at least the main Opposition party to break from any custom or tradition. Congress managers also point out that in 1999, the entire Opposition bench stood by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government’s attempt to bypass the Standing Committees and pass the full Budget directly because the government collapsed and the Budget had to be passed.

Meanwhile, Mukherjee today sought suggestions from the finance ministers of various states on the General Budget. At a meeting with Asim Dasgupta, West Bengal finance minister and chairman of the Empowered Committee of the state finance ministers, Mukherjee asked him to sit with other state counterparts and prepare a wish list of the state governments.

“This is the first time the Union government has sought suggestions of the state finance ministers,” Dasgupta told reporters. The Empowered Committee is scheduled to meet on June 11 in Delhi to prepare the suggestions of FMs. The state governments generally give their charter of demands before the General Budget through the Planning Commission.