Budget Session to Begin in Jan-end; Officials Told to Gear Up

NEW DELHI:
With the first half of the budget session expected to begin in the last week of January, the ministries have started asking officials to gear up for response to the possible questions from members of Parliament (MPs).

“As Parliament session is expected to start in the last week of this month, an advisory has been circulated to various sections of the ministry,” said an official. A circular issued by Civil Aviation Ministry advised officials to prepare for “controversies” and questions that could be raised by the members. The ministry which controls national carrier Air India and airport agency Airports Authority of India (AAI) may have to respond to possible queries around privatisation.

While the government is looking at completing disinvestment of Air India in the current fiscal, half a dozen AAI airports are to be bid out on PPP model. The upcoming session of Parliament is set to be stormy given the protests in various parts of the country against the new citizenship law — Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which grants citizenship to persecuted minorities in the three neighbouring countries of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

Moreover, there has also been hike in the railway passenger fares and cooking gas price and the Opposition may train their guns at the government. The Opposition members could also put heat on the government for consistent decline in GDP and several macro indicators signalling recovery could still take some more time.