How Finances Presentation Modified Over The Years

The outdated ‘funds briefcase’ was changed with the ‘bahi khata’

New Delhi:

For many years, finance ministers have been photographed carrying a briefcase into Parliament for the presentation of the Union Finances. The 12 months 2019 marked a giant shift when Nirmala Sitharaman ditched this follow for a ‘bahi khata’. She then opted for a paperless format in 2021 through the use of a ‘Made in India’ pill. The journey of the presentation of the Union Finances from briefcase to a totally paperless mode is sort of fascinating.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is all set to current the Interim Finances for FY 2024-25 on February 1. A full-fledged Finances will probably be introduced after the formation of the brand new authorities following the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

In 2019, Union Minister Piyush Goyal, whereas holding the extra cost of the Ministry of Finance, introduced the final interim Finances. Ms Sitharaman introduced her maiden Finances on July 5, 2019, after assuming cost because the finance minister following the Narendra Modi-led authorities’s second consecutive win within the basic elections.

Forward of the Finances 2024, let’s check out the historical past behind the Union Finances presentation train:

Briefcase

RK Shanmukham Chetty, the primary Finance Minister of unbiased India, continued with the British-era custom by carrying the paperwork associated to the primary Union Finances in a leather-based portfolio bag. This custom continued for the following few years because the finance ministers used totally different briefcases for the Finances ceremony.

With time, this follow advanced as per the wants. Within the Nineteen Seventies, finance ministers had began carrying a hardbound bag – the color of which continued to vary over time.

This ‘funds briefcase’ was a remnant of the colonial period and just like the Gladstone Field, named after the previous British Chancellor of the Exchequer, William Ewart Gladstone. 

‘Bahi Khata’

The outdated ‘funds briefcase’ was changed with the ‘bahi khata’ quickly after the Narendra Modi-led authorities secured a second consecutive time period.

Throughout her first Finances, Finance Minister Sitharaman drew the nation’s consideration by carrying a red-coloured ‘bahi khata’ in 2019, as a substitute of the briefcase. The rationale behind this seemed to be the renunciation of the colonial legacy.

Her determination to make use of the ‘bahi khata’ gave an Indian contact to the budgetary train because it has been utilized by enterprise house owners for many years to keep up their accounts.

Again then, FM Sitharaman mentioned that it was “simpler” to hold the ‘bahi khata’ and it was “very Indian”.

Pill

In 2021, the normal ‘bahi khata’ gave option to a extra trendy system as FM Sitharaman introduced the Finances in a paperless format, utilizing a ‘Made in India’ pill.

This transfer was additionally in tandem with Prime Minister Modi’s push for a ‘Digital India’. This was additionally the primary Finances presentation because the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Ms Sitharaman carried the pill in a crimson ‘bahi khata’-style pouch in 2021 and continued this follow in 2022 and 2023.

This 12 months too, the Finance Minister is predicted to current Finances 2024 in paperless format.