Budget 2021 | 4 times Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chose the non-traditional Budget path

All eyes were pinned on Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as she presented a 'never-before' Union Budget on Monday amid the Covid-19 pandemic, a lingering economic slowdown and a raging farmers' protest.

Sitharaman presented India's first 'digital Budget' and presented the speech using a tab that she carried in her bright red 'Bahi Khata'. This wasn't the first time, however, that the finance minister set a precedent in terms of Budget traditions.

Here's how Sitharaman went the non-traditional route in the three Budgets that she has presented so far:

Leather briefcase out, 'Bahi Khata' in

In her first Budget in 2019, Sitharaman ditched the colonial legacy of a leather briefcase for the Budget and chose the traditional Bahi-Khata to carry the papers. The word 'Budget' originated from the French word 'bougette', which means leather briefcase.

First full-time woman finance minister with three Budgets under her belt

The year 2019 also saw India's first full-time woman Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman deliver the Union Budget speech. She also delivered the longest Budget speech ever in 2020, which lasted two hours and 17 minutes. Out of the Modi government's nine straight Budgets, Sitharaman has now presented three of them, including a Mini-Budget.

Digitising the Budget with the mobile app

Traditionally, copies of the Budget are brought to the Parliament complex before the finance minister arrives. In the pandemic climate, the process went digital with the Union Budget Mobile app. Sitharaman launched the app during the halwa ceremony this year for hassle-free access to Budget documents by Members of Parliament and the general public using the simplest form of digital convenience. The finance minister even read out the Budget text from a tab.

A number of Mini-Budgets

In the past year, Sitharaman announced a number of measures that she said were like five Mini-Budgets themselves through special packages across sectors to soften the blow dealt by the Covid-19 pandemic

(With inputs from PTI)