There the nation is, on February 1, in anticipation of the national general budget. This is what the country has been looking forward to-the general budget with significant railway announcements.
Senior citizens in the country also have great expectations from this railway budget.
Remember the 50% discount on train ticket bookings for elders before the outbreak of COVID-19? This was withdrawn during COVID-19. Now, seniors are allegedly entitled to a 50% discount on railway fares booked within this budget.
The whole nation is very eagerly waiting for the budget. On February 1, 2025, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will give the public presentation of an accounting book of the nation in Parliament. Throughout all these years, there have been numerous changes in the budget.
The year 2017 saw a change in budgetary custom
Essentially, the general budget contained important announcements relating to Indian Railways, health, education, and defense. The Modi government has disrupted some of the entrenched arrangements concerning budgets such as the Rail Budget during the period of its governance. Indian Railways had a separate railway budget, before 2017.
Since independence, rail budgets have been presented separately. In 1924, a unique budget meant only for the railways was separated.
The Narendra Modi government put an end to this 92-year-old practice at the national level. Traditionally, the Rail Budget was presented on the day before the General Budget. In late 2017, the Modi government began presentation of the Rail Budget together with the General Budget.
This is a 92-year-old tradition, continued by the Narendra Modi government. The General Budget was introduced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Modi government.
This was proposed by the committee of NITI Aayog that advised that presentations of the general budget and the railway budget be merged. Based on this proposal, the then-Minister of Railways, Suresh Prabhu, wrote a letter to the late Arun Jaitley proposing the merger of the Railway with the General Budget.
In 2016, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley brought Suresh Prabhu’s proposal to the Rajya Sabha. Subsequently, a panel was engaged in hammering out a consolidated version of the two budgets. In 1924, the railway budget was initially made a separate budget.
Budget 2025 Crucial Expectations
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the first full budget of the Modi government’s third term on February 1, 2025. Older people believe that their demands would be included in the government’s budget. Millions of seniors will benefit from this by getting their traveling cost cut. No, it is still not known whether Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman would fulfill the requirements of elderly people.