• India
  • Jan 31

What is Budget Session?

• Parliament’s Budget Session began on January 31 with President Droupadi Murmu addressing both the Houses of Parliament assembled together in the Lok Sabha. 

• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget on February 1 for the eighth consecutive time.

• The government has listed 16 Bills, besides the financial business, for the Budget session which will be held from January 31 to February 13 before breaking for recess to examine the Budget proposals. The session will reconvene on March 10 and continue till April 4.

• The 16 Bills listed for the Budget session include the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, The Railways (Amendment) Bill, The Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, The Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Bill, The Protection of Interests in Aircraft Objects Bill, and The Immigration and Foreigners Bill.

What are the Sessions of Parliament?

• A Session is the period of time between the meeting of a Parliament and its prorogation. During the course of a Session, either House may adjourn to such date as it pleases. 

Normally three Sessions are held in a year: 

1) Budget Session -  January & February and March & April.

The Budget Session is divided into two parts. It has a break to enable department-related committees to consider and report on demands for grants of the various ministries.

2) Monsoon Session - July, August and September.

3) Winter Session -  November and December.

• The period between the prorogation of Parliament and its reassembly in a new Session is termed as a ‘recess’.

• ‘Adjournment’ is a short break of a few hours or days and then the House resumes its sitting. 

• If the adjournment is done without any time scale, it is known as ‘adjournment sine die’.

How is a Parliament Session convened?

• The Constitution provides that the President shall from time to time summon each House of Parliament to meet at such time and place as he thinks fit. There should not be a gap of more than six months between two Sessions of the Parliament. 

• The fixation of dates of summoning and prorogation of the two Houses of Parliament is one of the functions assigned to the ministry of parliamentary affairs under the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules made by the President.

• After assessing the time likely to be required for transaction of government business and for discussion on topics of public interest as may be demanded from time to time by members of Parliament, the ministry of parliamentary affairs places a note before the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs for making a recommendation as to the date of the commencement of a Session of Parliament and its likely duration. 

• The recommendation, if approved by the Prime Minister, is submitted by the ministry to the President for approval of the commencement of a Session.

• The President summons the House exercising the powers conferred upon him by Article 85(1) of the Constitution.

• It states that: “The President shall from time to time summon each House of Parliament to meet at such time and place as he thinks fit, but six months shall not intervene between its last sitting in one session and the date appointed for its first sitting in the next session.”

• Following this, the Secretary-General issues a summons to each member of the House.

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