Parliament’s Budget Session to begin on July 22

Parliament’s Budget Session to begin on July 22

Context: Parliament’s Budget Session will be held between July 22 and August 12. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her seventh Budget on July 23.

• An Interim Budget was presented in February due to the Lok Sabha polls, which were held in April-June.
• This will be the first Budget presented by the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in its third term.
• Last month, President Droupadi Murmu, while delivering her address to the joint sitting of Parliament, had said that many historic steps and major economic decisions will be taken in the upcoming Budget Session.
• The Finance Ministry said the pre-Budget consultations for Union Budget 2024-25 that started from June 19 onward concluded on
July 5.

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