Union Budget 2021: Watch FM Nirmala Sitharaman’s speech, Budget live on ‘Budget Mobile App’

NEW DELHI: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget 2021-22 in Parliament on Monday (February 01, 2021) at a time when India is recovering from the COVID-19 crisis.

The Union Budget presentation will begin with the Finance Minister’s speech, which is scheduled to take place around 11 AM. Ahead of her third Budget presentation, the Finance Minister and her team will meet President Ram Nath Kovind, and will likely be accompanied by her deputy Anurag Thakur and other officials of the Finance Ministry.

FM Sitharaman’s speech and Union Budget presentation can be watched live on the ‘Union Budget Mobile App’ launched recently by the Finance Minister. The newly launched Union Budget Mobile App provides hassle-free access to Budget documents to the lawmakers and the general public.

The budget app has been developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) under the guidance of the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA). The budget documents will be made available on the mobile app solemn after  Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman finishes presenting the Union Budget 2021 in the Parliament on February 1, 2021. 

This newly launched Union Budget Mobile App can be downloaded from the Google Play Store on Android devices and from the Apple App Store on iOS devices – iPhone and iPad. One can also download it from the Union Budget Web Portal. 

Here’s how the app will be beneficial to users:

The app will help the users to get complete access to 14 Union Budget documents, including the Annual Financial Statement (commonly known as Budget), Demand for Grants (DG), Finance Bill etc. as prescribed by the Constitution.

Users can choose languages on the interface – English and Hindi.

The user-friendly interface will allow the users to download, print, zoom in and out, and search details.

The app will be available on both Android and iOS platforms.

All the Budget documents will be accessible for users of the app after the completion of the Budget speech by the Finance Minister on February 1.

For the first time since independence, the Union Budget 2021 is going to be completely paperless. In the wake of the ongoing pandemic, the budget papers will not be printed.

The decision has been taken as nearly 100 people would be required to stay at the printing press for around a fortnight amid the pandemic fear.

Both the houses of Parliament have given permission for the same to the Central Government.