Economic Survey 2021 To Be Unveiled Today: Budget Session Set For A Rocky Start As 18 Opposition Parties To Boycott President's Address | Key Points

The budget session will begin with the President's address followed by the presentation of the Economic Survey, however, several opposition parties have already  announced that they will be boycotting the address.

Image: PTI

Economic Survey 2020-2021: Parliament’s budget session, taking place just days after the national capital witnessed unprecedented vandalism of the Red Fort, is likely to have a turbulent start today . The session will begin with the President's address followed by the presentation of the Economic Survey, however, several opposition parties have already  announced that they will be boycotting the address.

Following are the key points of the address:

• The economic survey is being presented three days ahead of the Union Budget which is slated to be unveiled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1.
• Chief economic advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian will be the prime architect behind Economic Survey 2020-21.
• As many as 18 political parties have announced boycott of the President’s address to a joint sitting of both houses on Friday, in solidarity with the farmers agitating against the three contentious farm laws.
• The focal point is going to be on the losses endured by the financial system of the country due to the Covid-19 virus.
• The opposition parties may go hostile during the session over issues like recession, job losses, handling of COVID crisis, LAC stand-off with China and the WhatsApp chat leaks on national security issues.
• Meanwhile, to seek the cooperation of various parties for the smooth functioning of the session, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has convened a meeting of all political parties on Friday which is expected to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• The Budget session this time will be held in two parts: One extending from January 29 to February 15 and the other one from March 8 to April 8.
• The session is expected to have a total of 33 sittings.
• Since the budget is also going paperless this time, all the documents and the Economic Survey would be made available online soon after the authenticated copies are laid on the Table of the House, the Lok Sabha Secretariat was quoted as saying.