Govt wants to pass 2 Budgets, eco survey in July first week

The second Manmohan Singh government is proposing a three-day schedule from July 1 to present its first Railway and General Budget along with the Economic Survey.

According to top Congress ministers, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee could table the General Budget on July 3.

Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee might present her Railway Budget on July 1 followed by the Economic Survey on July 2.

“The government is determined to present its two Budgets and the Economic Survey in the first week of July. This will give Parliament enough time to debate on the Budgets and pass them,” said a top government source. The government has also decided that it will bypass the Standing Committee scrutiny of the various ministries on the General Budget and get it passed directly in the Lok Sabha to meet the July 31 deadline.

The Interim Budgets (both General and Railways), passed in February by the previous UPA government, are valid till July 31.

Today, at a morning meeting at the Speaker’s chamber, the finance minister reiterated the government’s willingness to bypass the Standing Committees for the General Budget. The Opposition BJP is likely to allow the government to take this short-cut route to pass the Budget in time and not raise objections.

Congress managers also argue that as the government needs to combat the economic slowdown on an emergency basis, it can’t wait for the Standing Committees’ reports and then pass the Budget after a recess of Parliament. “This means the Budget will be passed in July itself and give some space to various ministries to spend their allocations properly. As it is because of the Model Code of Conduct during the elections, the government couldn’t work much over the past three months. Now we have to work fast,” a minister told Business Standard.

After the current session of the 15th Lok Sabha ends on June 9, the UPA government may convene the Budget session of the House in the last week of June.

A section of the Congress wants it to start on June 29.

President’s speech
President Pratibha Devisingh Patil will address the joint session of Parliament on Thursday. Government managers told Business Standard that the President’s speech would contain a detailed account of the achievements of the first UPA government and the context in which it has assumed office after the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.

Expansion of the first UPA’s flagship National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) and the Congress’ election promise of legislation on food security might also figure in her address indicating priority areas of the second innings of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Patil’s speech will also lay down the priority areas in the social and infrastructure sectors for the Manmohan Singh government. After the government made Meira Kumar the first woman Speaker of the Lok Sabha, the President’s address could mention the government’s target of reserving 50 per cent seats for women in the Panchayats, from the current 33 per cent reservation in local bodies.

The President will also formally announce the second UPA government’s 100-day programme for all ministries. According to top sources, the President’s speech may say that the government will initiate its programme and plans in next 100 days. “This will not necessarily mean that the government will pass new legislation in this time table but it will at least table those bills in the Parliament,” said a source.