New Delhi (NVI): Ahead of the presentation of the Union Budget on February 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today launched the ‘Union Budget Mobile App’ for hassle-free access of Budget-related documents by Members of Parliament (MPs) and the public.
The mobile App facilitates complete access to 14 Union Budget documents, including the Annual Financial Statement (commonly known as Budget), Demand for Grants (DG), Finance Bill as prescribed by the Constitution, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Finance.
For the first time since independence, the budget papers will not be printed in the wake of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The Union Budget 2021, slated to be presented on February 1, is going to be completely paperless, the statement added.
The app was launched during the customary ‘halwa’ ceremony, marking the final stage of the Budget making process for Union Budget 2021-22, and was held in North Block.
Halwa ceremony is performed every year before the “lock-in” process of Budget preparation begins.
Meanwhile, the Budget documents will be available on the Mobile App after the completion of the Budget Speech by the Finance Minister in Parliament.
The App has a user-friendly interface with embedded features of downloading, printing, search, zoom in and out, bidirectional scrolling, table of contents and external links, etc. It is bilingual (English & Hindi) and will be available on both Android and iOS platforms.
The App has been developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) under the guidance of the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA).
-CHK
