FM opts for wider Budget consultations

As Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee plans to roll out his blueprint for tackling the meltdown effects in the forthcoming General Budget, he has broken convention and opted for a wider range of pre-Budget consultations, involving more stakeholders.

During the last few years, finance ministers like P Chidambaram and Jaswant Singh limited their pre-Budget discussions to representatives from the industrialists' lobby, economists, farmers and trade unions.

This time, Mukherjee has held exclusive meetings with exporters, the financial sector, electronics and information technology. For the first time in the recent past, he will also hold a meeting with the finance ministers of the states on June 11 to know their expectations from the Budget.

"My officers initially advised me to follow the same path as my predecessors and meet only the four stakeholders. But I am meeting a wider range of people because of the financial crisis. This is not a normal situation, so more consultations are required," Mukherjee told Business Standard on Monday.

Meanwhile, the Congress brass is planning an All India Congress Committee session soon after the Budget session in Parliament gets over in July.

This meeting will be focused on taking the message of the Budget, which is expected to contain an action plan to boost the economy and the party's roadmap in the social sector, to the people. Strategies will be finalised in the meeting on how the Congress will campaign on the Budget and how the party organisation will oversee its proper implementation.

In 2008, reeling under the pressure of high inflation rates and sky-high food prices, then finance minister P Chidambaram had to hold a meeting with party leaders to appease their sentiments. This time, however, the senior-most and most experienced minister has no plan yet to meet the political class.

The government has also decided to bypass the parliamentary standing committees and pass the Budget directly in the Lok Sabha to meet the July 31 deadline.

Apart from the general discussion on the Budget, the government is now planning to have a separate debate on the demands for grants on a maximum of four ministries in each House. This will give an opportunity to the Opposition to raise questions and debate over these ministries specifically.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee also met Reserve Bank of India Governor D Subbarao last week at his North Block office. While Subbarao remained tight-lipped about the meeting, industry chambers informed the media that they have sought fiscal sops to boost corporate investments.