Tomorrow i.e. on 1st February Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Finance Minister will present the budget for the next financial year. The government presents the budget every year, in which along with the details of income and expenditure, announcements and provisions are made to strengthen the economy.
After independence, many finance ministers presented the budget but there was also a Finance Minister who had once presented the budget of India, but after some time he became the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Do you know the name of that Finance Minister? To know, continue to Read.
Origin of the word budget
In Latin, the details of income and expenditure are called ‘bulga‘. Bulga means leather bag. So in the language of France it is called ‘Bouget‘. In English this word is called Bojet. Later it came to be called budget. But in India this word has now come to be called ‘Bahikhata‘.
India’s first Budget
In the first war of independence against the British in the year 1857 great damage was done to the properties of the British Empire by the rebellions. As a result the economic condition of the British deteriorated heavily.
To tackle the siuation, the Britishers looked towards James Wilson who was the eminent economist of that time and the founder of international magazine like ‘The Economist’. In 1860, James Wilson presented the first budget of India. James Wilson had also presented the draft of organized tax structure in India.
India’s first interim budget
Almost a year before the independence, the interim government was formed (on 02 September 1946). The government was headed by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. In this interim government, the first interim finance minister was Liaquat Ali Khan. Liaquat Ali Khan used to be the right hand of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Liaquat Ali Khan got this important role in the interim government as a representative of the Muslim League on Jinnah’s recommendation. After the partition, Liaquat Ali Khan moved to Pakistan and became the first Prime Minister of that country.
How was the first interim Budget
The first budget presented by Liaquat Ali Khan is called “Poor Man Budget” or “Socialist Budget“. In this budget, special provisions were made for the poor population, while many strict restrictions were imposed for the capitalists. The capitalists then strongly opposed this budget. The budget was only of Rs 171 crore.
Who presented the first budget of independent India?
The first budget of independent India was presented by RK Shanmukham Sethi on 26 November 1947. He was a successful lawyer, economist and politician. He was also the Speaker of the Central Legislative Assembly of India from 1933 to 1935.
Republic India’s first budget presented
The Constitution of India came into force on 26 January 1950 and with this India was established as a Republic of India. After this, on 28 February 1950, John Mathai presented the first budget of Republic India. After him, CD Deshmukh, the first governor of Reserve Bank of India, became the Finance Minister. CD Deshmukh presented the interim budget in 1951-52.