Budget 2021: FM Nirmala Sitharaman Ditches 'Bahi Khata' For Tablet As It Is 'Paperless'

Bahi Khata will not be a feature of this year's budget as it will be on a Made-In-India tablet although it does have a red tablet cover.

Image Source (ANI)

New Delhi: In 2019, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced 'Bahi Khata' a traditional red cloth to carry the budget documents. This year, in 2021, the Budget will be in 'Made-In-India' tablet as it will be completely paperless. Before the 'Bahi Khata', Budget documents were carried in a breifcase that was handed over by the British, it was copy of the 'Gladstone' box which is what the British Budget is carried in. 

In mid-January, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last week launched the new mobile app by the name 'Union Budget Mobile App' for hassle-free access to Budget documents by the MPs and the general public using the simplest form of digital convenience. Both the houses of parliaments Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha approved of the initiative. If reports are to be believed, the government had even decided to do away with the customary 'Halwa Ceremony'. The generation-old tradition was on the verge of cancellation before the government decided to go ahead with it on Saturday. The app was developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) under the guidance of the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), the mobile app facilitates 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."

The word 'Budget' is derived from the French word 'Bougette' which means a leather bag, which is why budgets is carried in the leather briefcase. But in 2019, FM Nirmala Sitharaman decided to ditch the colonial footprint and used the 'Bahi Khata' instead. 

The 2021 Budget is going to be unique in many ways, this will be the first ever paperless budget. Before the first parliament session of the Union Budget on Friday, PM Modi said that the Budget 2021 will be an extension of the year 2020's budget which comprised of four or five mini budgets in an attempt to cushion the blow of the pandemic.