Budget session: Speaker, Vice President discuss preparations

New Delhi, Jan 31: A day ahead of the start of Parliament's Budget session, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Sunday called on Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, who is also the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, to discuss the preparations. The Vice President's Secretariat said that they discussed extensively on the preparation for the upcoming session and expressed optimism that all political parties will engage in constructive debates and contribute to a productive session.

The Budget Session will commence on January 31, and is scheduled to conclude on April 8. Its first part will extend up to February 11 and there will be a break till March 12, during which the Standing Committees will examine Demands for Grants of Ministries/Departments and prepare Reports. In all, there will be 29 sittings - 10 in the First Part and 19 in the Second Part.

The President will address both members of both houses at 11 a.m. on Monday and half and hour afterwards, the Lok Sabha will sit and the 'Economic Survey 2021-22' will be laid by the Finance Minister on the table of the house. The Budget will be presented by the Finance Minister on February 1.

From February 2 to February 11, the Lok Sabha is scheduled to sit from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Members will be accommodated in the Lok Sabha chamber and its galleries (except Press Gallery) and the Rajya Sabha chamber and its galleries (except Press Gallery).

During the first part of the session, the Discussion on Motion of Thanks on President's Address and General Discussion on Budget will be held and the government has tentatively fixed four days for Discussion on Motion of Thanks which will mean 40 hours for it and other business such as questions, Private Members' Business, and others.