Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju will hold an All-Party meeting on July 21, ahead of the Budget Session of the Parliament. In an official press release, the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs stated that Rijiju will hold a meeting with the floor leaders of political parties in both houses of the Parliament. The meeting will take place at 9 am on July 21 in the Main Committee Room, Parliament House Annexe, New Delhi.
The meeting is seen as an effort by the government to make deliberations towards the functioning of houses with full efficiency during the session. Notably, the Budget Session will commence on 22nd July 2024 and may conclude on August 12, 2024.
First budget of Modi 3.0
This is the first budget session after the conclusion of the general elections and the formation of the 18th Lok Sabha. In the Lok Sabha elections, BJP and its allies managed to retain the treasury bench in the Parliament. Accordingly, the budget which will be presented in this session will be the first in their third term. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union budget in the house on July 23 which will be followed by a discussion in both the houses.
FM Sitharaman meets stakholders
In the run for the budget session, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman held multiple rounds of pre-budget meetings with stakeholders of various sectors including industry and medical among others. She has also consulted the finance ministers of states and UTs. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also held multiple meetings ahead of the budget. On July 11, PM Modi held a meeting with prominent economists and sectoral experts to listen to their views and suggestions. The meeting was also attended by Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Bery and other members.
Aspirations from budget
Meanwhile, multiple sectors have made demands to the union government for some sort of concessions related to them. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has urged the government to increase health allocation to 2,5 per cent of the GDP. Similarly, the Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AiMeD) has appealed to the government to consider a strategic increase in customs duty on medical devices, proposing a raise to a nominal range of around 15 per cent.
The appeal made aims to bolster the domestic medical device manufacturing sector and align with broader economic strategies. One important sector is Startups, where early startups have urged the government to eliminate the angel tax. Additionally, the health tech startups are hopeful for enhanced funding allocations specifically targeted at their sector.
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