Union Budget 2022: No Question, Zero Hour on first 2 days of Budget Session in Parliament

In a key development, there will be no Question Hour and Zero Hour on the first two days of the Budget Session (January 31 and February 1) in the Parliament. Zero Hour has been cancelled owing to the address of the President to both Houses of the Parliament and the Presentation of Union Budget 2022 respectively. Both the Question Hour and Zero Hour and matters of Urgent Public Importance will be raised on February 2 this year.

ANI reported that both the Houses, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, are likely to deliberate on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address for three days commencing on February 2. For the Members of Parliament to raise issues on Urgent Public Importance, they are expected to serve a notice before 10 AM to the Speaker on the day of sitting. 

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the 2022-23 Union Budget on Tuesday, February 1. In Budget 2022-23, Sitharaman will try to address the challenges around life and livelihood posed by the aftermath of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Due to the COVID's new variant of concern Omicron, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recent cut the country's economic growth forecast to 9% for the current fiscal ending March 31. However, the financial institution, for both 2022-23 and the financial year thereafter, has made an upward revision of 0.5% in respect of India's GDP growth.

Why Union Budget is presented on February 1 every year?

In 2017, then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had announced that the Union Budget or the Annual Financial Statement will not be tabled on the last day of February. He said that it will be presented on February 1. Also, he had announced there will be no separate budget for Railway.

Meanwhile, the Union Budget 2022-23 will be presented in a paperless form. A 'Union Budget Mobile App' will also be launched by the government for hassle-free access of budget to MPs and the general public.

Union Budget 2022

In a pre-budget report, India ratings have shown that the impending budget aims to consolidate and strengthen the framework laid down in the previous year, rather than trying out new things by continuing with the revenue and capital expenditure pattern of FY'22. The objective is to provide stability and consolidation to the ongoing and past endeavour by advancing and generating employment in sectors that are adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.