Finance Minister to present Union Budget today

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will present the Union Budget in Parliament today. There will be no separate Rail Budget from this year, as it has been merged with the General Budget. 

Yesterday, the Economic Survey was presented in the Parliament. 

After presenting the Budget, Mr Jaitley will reply to questions by Twitterati on the Budget proposals. He said, he will be happy to respond to the questions sent directly to him on twitter.

The questions to the finance minister can be asked on Twitter by using hashtag #MyQuestionToFM.

Our correspondent reports that the government has advanced the date of the Budget presentation so as to complete the entire process before the end of financial year. The first part of the Budget session will continue till 9th of February and after a month long recess the second part will commence from 9th March. The first part of the session has been kept brief in view of ongoing Assembly Polls in five states.

During the recess Standing Committees will consider the Demands for Grants of Ministries and Departments and prepare their Reports. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday urged the entire opposition to ensure smooth functioning of Parliament during the Budget session. Addressing media outside Parliament, Mr Modi called for a constructive debate on all issues. 

Our correspondent spoke to a cross section of people about their expectations from the budget. #casansaar (NewsonAir)