As is his wont, Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee presented Budget 2011-12, his sixth one, with aplomb, but for a minor snafu as he skipped two paras of his speech and to which he reverted a little later after tendering an apology to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.
“Madam Speaker, in my anxiety to finish on time, I overstepped two paras...” he began and then proceeded to read the two paras he had omitted. As one MP quipped if these paras had anything to do with tax, the FM replied promptly, “It has nothing to do with tax.” At another point, when Mr Mukherjee paused and another MP said loudly: “Tired”, the FM remarked, “Not yet.”
The FM also appeared to be suffering from a cough as he frequently cleared his throat, at times coughed slightly and took sips of water through his nearly two-hour-long Budget speech. With Monday’s speech, Mr Mukherjee has achieved the distinction of presenting five regular and one interim Budget. The maximum number of Budgets, 10, have been presented by the late Morarji Desai.
On the whole, his speech was one that proceeded on an even keel but for the initial moments of the speech when some MPs demanded that the MPLADs allocation be increased to `10 crores. It was also one that saw no acrimony unlike the one delivered by Union railway minister and Trinamul Congress leader Mamata Banerjee who was heard yelling at Opposition MPs, “Chup raho”.
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PDP says Kashmir is ignored
AGE CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi
Feb. 28: The PDP has slammed finance minister Pranab Mukherjee for ignoring the Kashmir region in the Budget while announcing special packages for Ladakh and Jammu to develop infrastructure in these regions.
Mr Mukherjee provided special development funds to Ladakh and Jammu regions. “A task force to assess infrastructure needs that can be addressed within a time horizon of 24 months for Ladakh and Jammu regions has recommended projects amounting to `416 crores and `497 crores, respectively. I am providing `100 crores for Ladakh and `150 crores for Jammu for these identified projects in 2011-12,” he said.