FM Nirmala Sitharaman Is Back With Her Bahi-Khata Tablet  

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was seen carrying the modern Bahi-Khata tablet ahead of presenting her fifth and last Union Budget under the Modi 2.0 government ahead of the 2014 general polls.  

New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who is all set to present her fifth consecutive Union Budget, was seen carrying her trademark modern 'bahi-khata' tablet, in a traditional red cover with a gold-coloured national emblem embossed on it, as she reached Parliament on Wednesday. She carried a similar tablet last year.

This is Sitharaman’s fifth and last Union Budget under the Modi 2.0 government ahead of the 2023 general election.  

The Union Budget was delivered in paperless form for the first time in 2021, when the finance minister replaced the Swadeshi bahi khata with a tablet.

In 2019, Sitharaman, ditched the long-standing tradition of carrying budget documents in a leather briefcase and went swadeshi with a bahi-khata during her first budget presentation in Parliament.

The FM had in 2021 launched the “Union Budget Mobile App" for hassle-free access of Budget documents by Members of Parliament (MPs) and the general public using the simplest form of digital convenience, according to the Ministry of Finance.

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

The word 'Budget' originated from the french word Bougette, which means leather briefcase. The tradition of carrying the Budget briefcase was a copy of the 'Gladstone box' that is used in the British budget.In 1860, the then British budget chief William E Gladstone used a red suitcase with Queen's monogram embossed in gold to carry his documents, which came to be known as 'Gladstone Box'.In 1947, India's first Finance Minister RK Shanmukham Chetty carried a leather portfolio to present the first Budget.

Before Sitharaman, a long-standing tradition in connection with the budget presentation was broken during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government with the then Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha presenting the budget at 11 am rather than at the traditional time of 5 pm.

Since then, all governments have been presenting the budget at 11 am.