Parliament Budget Session Extended Till February 10; Here’s Why

The current Budget Session-- the last session before Lok Sabha polls likely to be held in April-May this year-- kicked off with the address by President Droupadi Murmu to the joint sitting of two Houses on January 31.

Parliament Budget Session: The ongoing Budget Session of the Parliament, which will be the last session ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, has been extended till February 10. The announcement was made in the Lok Sabha today by Speaker Om Birla.

Speaker Birla said the extension has been proposed by the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs to “dispose off necessary government business”.

“Honorable Members, Honorable Minister of Parliamentary Affairs has proposed that the 15th session of the 17th Lok Sabha be extended till Saturday, 10 February 2024 to dispose of the necessary government business,” the Speaker said.

In Rajya Sabha, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar also extended the session for one day.

The current Budget Session– the last session before Lok Sabha polls likely to be held in April-May this year– kicked off with the address by President Droupadi Murmu to the joint sitting of two Houses on January 31. The session was slated to conclude on February 9.

‘White Paper’ on UPA-era economy

The decision comes amid buzz over the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government presenting a ‘white paper’ on the economy during the previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

During the Interim Budget which was presented on February 1, the BJP-led Central government announced hat it will come out with ‘White Paper’ to compare the economic performance of 10 years of the Congress-led UPA government with that of 10 years of the BJP-led NDA dispensation.

During her address, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that the Modi government, which assumed office in 2014, overcame crisis of those years and the economy has been put firmly on a high sustainable growth path,

“In 2014 when our Government assumed the reins, the responsibility to mend the economy step by step and to put the governance systems in order was enormous. The need of the hour was to give hope to the people, to attract investments, and to build support for the much-needed reforms. The government did that successfully following our strong belief of ‘nation-first’,” she said.

“The crisis of those years has been overcome, and the economy has been put firmly on a high sustainable growth path with all-round development.”

Sitharaman announced that the Centra will table a White Paper in the House “to look at where we were then till 2014 and where we are now, only for the purpose of drawing lessons from the mismanagement of those years”.

“The exemplary track record of governance, development and performance, effective delivery, and ‘Jan Kalyan’ has given the government trust, confidence and blessings of the people to realize, whatever it takes, the goal of ‘Viksit Bharat’ with good intentions, true dedication and hard work in the coming years and decades,” she said.

(With ANI inputs)