Breaking years of tradition, Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman today (5th July 2019) arrived at the Parliament with the document covered in a ‘red cloth’ with the national emblem on the top and tied with a golden string. Nirmala Sitharaman is currently presenting her maiden Union Budget for the year 2019-20 and she has changed the British-era custom of carrying the official papers in a briefcase.
The Finance minister carried the documents in a red cloth that is also a tradition used to cover spiritual texts. Krishnamurthy Subramanian, Chief Economic Advisor called it a symbol of “departure from slavery of Western slavery”.
Subramanian was quoted as saying by news agency ANI that “It is in Indian tradition and it symbolizes our departure from slavery of Western thought. It is not a budget but a ‘bahi khata’ (ledger)”.
Although the tradition of carrying the Budget in a suitcase has been on since the British rule, Finance Ministers have opted to carry the document in different colours suitcases like black, red velvet and even dark brown/tan.
The Budget 2019 is being presented at a time when unemployment has touched a 45-year high & India had lost its label as the world’s fastest-growing major economy to China in the last quarter of the financial year. After Bharatiya Janata Party’s historic mandate in the recent Lok Sabha elections, people are hopeful that the full-year Budget will further expand the welfare measures announced in the interim Budget in February. However, with India’s economic growth faltering since 1st February, it will likely be much more difficult to come through on those promises.
