The Government has finalised the schedules for the Budget Session, which will begin on February 23 to continue till May 8. The dates were decided by the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA) in a meeting on Wednesday. The Railway Budget will be presented on February 26 followed by the Economic Survey on February 27 and the General Budget on February 28, which is a Saturday.
The first part of the Session has been scheduled from February 23 to March 20 followed by a month-long recess. The Session will resume on April 20 to go till May 8. The recess period of the Session is utilised by Parliamentary committees to examine the Budget proposals of the various ministries. The Session will begin with the President’s address in a joint sitting of the two Houses followed by Motion of Thanks on February 24-25.
Just a couple of days back, President Pranab Mukherjee had gently nudged the Government and the Opposition to see that Parliament is given its due respect by passing legislations on key issues through proper debate to avoid the need for frequent Ordinances.
He also favoured less disruption and more debates in the Parliament. Besides getting the Budget passed, the priority of the Government is to get the six Ordinances relating to coal, mines and minerals, e-rickshaws, amendment to Citizenship Act, land Acquisition and FDI in insurance sector passed as Bills. The CCPA which held an extended meeting on this aspect once again discussed the modalities and strategy on getting the Ordinances cleared through legislative process. The Ministers also discussed on how to get maximum business transacted during the session and bring in some new Bills that are important for the Government.
Meanwhile, sources said the Government will go all out to “educate” public on the compulsion for it to bring the Ordinances. It is learnt that the focus is to blunt Congress attacks, particularly its upcoming stir against the land Ordinance. The Congress has termed the NDA regime as the “Ordinance Raj” and that the land Ordinance has been brought to please the corporates.
Accordingly, message has been passed to the Cabinet Ministers, BJP leaders and the cadre to dispel the myth being created by the Congress and reach out to people to explain the rationale behind the Ordinance and how it is going to benefit people. The Government will also showcase its pro-poor policies and work done so far.
Meanwhile, sources said that top leadership of the BJP and senior Cabinet Ministers lauded Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu’s for countering the Congress and left allegations that the NDA Government has brought the maximum Ordinances. Naidu had on Tuesday countered the Congress by saying that the party had brought 456 in its 50 years of rule while given out details of all Ordinances promulgated since 1952.
“We have decided to highlight the number of Ordinances issued by Congress Governments during tenures of (Jawaharlal) Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi,” Naidu said.