The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) has maintained that February 1 as the designated date for the presentation of the Budget is sacrosanct despite it falling on a Sunday this year, and also coinciding with Guru Ravi Das birth anniversary, which is a government holiday in some of the states in remembrance of the 15th century saint and social reformer.
The Budget Session of Parliament is set to begin on January 28 (Wednesday) with the President’s address, and the Economic Survey 2025-26 is likely to be tabled the next day. Parliament will take a break on January 30 (Friday) since it will meet on February 1 (Sunday) for the Budget presentation. Conforming to the usual practice, it will not work on Saturday.
The first part of the Budget Session is likely to run from January 28 to February 13, and break for a recess before the session reconvenes on March 9 and concludes on April 2.
However, the Union Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs is yet to formally announce the dates for the Budget Session.
Ever since February 1 became the date in 2017 for the presentation of the Budget, Sundays have never come in the way of the tabling of the annual financial statement. In both 2020 and 2025, the Union Budget was presented on February 1 even though it was a Saturday, which is usually a weekly off for Parliament when it is in session.
The Guru Ravidas Jayanti is neither a central government “public holiday” nor it is so in most part of the country. It is a “public holiday” in some of the North Indian states, such as Delhi and Haryana. It is a “restricted holiday”, and not a public holiday, for the central government. However, in 2025, Ravidas Jayanti fell on Wednesday, February 12, in the midst of the Budget Session, and the two Houses did not have a sitting on account of it.
There are precedents of Parliament having its sittings on Sunday under special circumstances, such as the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and on May 13, 2012, to mark the 60th anniversary of the first sitting of Parliament. Similarly, there have been instances when the two Houses sat on a public holiday.
On May 13, 1957, which was a holiday on account of Buddha Purnima, the President addressed both the Houses, and separate sittings of the two Houses were held on that day.
“In fixing the sittings, restricted holidays in the Government of India offices are, however, not taken into account, and sittings may be fixed on those days,” according to the Rajya Sabha website.
Prior to 2017, the Union Budget was presented on the last working day of February. The convention then was that if February 28 or 29 fell on a Sunday, the previous day (Saturday) would be chosen for presenting the Budget. The February 1 date was selected to ensure implementation of the Budget at the start of the new financial year on April 1.
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