Govt convenes all-party meet on January 27

The Government has convened an all-party meeting on January 27 to discuss legislative and other agendas, ahead of the Budget Session of the Parliament. The session is set to begin on January 28, with President Droupadi Murmu addressing a joint sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

On a rare occasion in parliamentary history, the Union Budget would be presented on February 1, which is a Sunday. This will be

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s ninth consecutive Budget. “The all-party meeting, convened by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, will be held at the main committee room of Parliament House annexe at 11 am on January 27,” a Government source said.

The Budget Session will continue till April 2. The first phase will conclude on February 13, with Parliament reassembling on March 9.

The session comes at a time when the Opposition Congress is conducting a nationwide campaign against the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, which replaces the UPA-era Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.

The ruling BJP is meanwhile running a counter campaign to highlight the new legislation as reformist and necessary to plug loopholes of the old law.