oppn parties Important Pre-Budget Meeting Without The Finance Minister In Attendance

News Snippets

  • For the first time ever, Mukesh Ambani buys a 29% stake in Gautam Adani's Mahan Energen, a subsidiary of Adani Power to source 500MW of electricity from the company's power plant in MP
  • Stocks continue to rise on Thursday - Sensex gains 639 points to 73635 and Nifty 203 points to 22326
  • Golf - Indian Open: 3 Indians at tied 14th as Joost Luiten takes the lead with a wonderful 7-under 65
  • IPL: RR beat DC by 12 runs as Riyan Parag (84 off just 45 balls) shines
  • SP drops two candidates owing allegiance to Azam Khan from Rampur and Moradabad
  • In Assam, a controversy erupted after a picture of UPPL leader Benjamin Basumatary, lying on a stack of Rs 500 notes circulated on social media. UPPL is an ally of the BJP
  • AAP's Jalandhar-West MP Sushil Kumar Rinku joins the BJP. He was the only AAP Lok Sabha MP
  • Supreme Court dismisses Centre's plea to review its 2023 verdict in the PMLA case
  • Close save for passengers as they remain unhurt after the wings of two planes graze at Kolkata airport. Pilots derostered and inquiry ordered by DGCA
  • Bengal BJP leader Dilip Ghosh gets notice from the EC as well as the BJP for making ugly remarks about Mamata Banerjee's parentage
  • Sadanand Vasanth Date, who faught terrorists in the 26/11 attack and was awarded the Preisent's Police medal, has been appointed the head of the NIA
  • Centre will borrow Rs 7.5L cr in the first six months of FY25, nearly 50% of the target for the full year
  • 25 stocks, including SBI, will see same day trade settlements from today in the world's fastest settlement mode in both BSE and NSE
  • Stocks recover smartly on Wednesday: Sensex rises 526 points to 72996 and Nifty 118 points to 22123
  • Tennis: Rohan Bopanna-Matthew Ebden reached the semifinals of the Miami Open
Delhi Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena says government cannot be run from jail, hints at President's Rule in the capital ////// In a dangerous incident, the wings of two planes grazed while taxiing on the runway at Kolkata airport, all passengers were safe but DGCA ordered an inquiry and the pilots were derostered
oppn parties
Important Pre-Budget Meeting Without The Finance Minister In Attendance

By A Special Correspondent
First publised on 2020-01-09 20:52:14

It is extremely surprising and unconventional that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was not present when the government held a pre-budget meeting with economists, other experts and stakeholders from different segments of the economy at the Niti Aayog in Delhi today. The excuse that she was pre-occupied (holding a pre-budget meeting with party workers at the BJP headquarters) is so weak that it is laughable.

What is more important for a finance minister before drafting the budget? To meet economists and experts or to meet party workers? Which meeting could have been rescheduled without much difficulty? The presence of Piyush Goyal (Commerce), Nitin Gadkari (Transport) and Narendra Singh Tomar (Agriculture), the three other ministries that have a major stake in the budget-making process was good, but it will not make up for the absence of the Finance Minister as she is the one who has the last word on the final budget. Or has she?

With power being overwhelmingly centralized in the PMO and most of the decisions being taken by either Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Home Minister and BJP President Amit Shah, do individual ministers in this government have any importance left? The absence of the Finance Minister from such an important meeting is one more thing that confirms this fact. The ministers in the NDA government have responsibility without power and it is showing.

The Congress has rightly taken potshots at the government for the absence of the Finance Minister from such an important meeting. In a tweet, it sarcastically asked the government to 'invite' the Finance Minister in a pre-budget meeting next time. In another tweet, it asked, "how many men does it take to do a woman's work?"

The government must realize that in politics and business, there are some things that can inspire confidence and others that can set off depression. Nirmala Sitharaman's absence from such an important meeting will definitely reduce her stature in business circles as well as her department. It was a huge blunder to let her skip (or was she instructed not to attend?) this important meeting. Has the government made up its mind to replace her?