Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday presented this financial year’s Budget for the Jammu and Kashmir in the Lok Sabha, PTI reported. The Union Territory has been allotted Rs 1.42 lakh crore in the Budget.

The second half of the Budget Session resumed on Monday and will end on April 8. The first half was held between February 1 and February 11.

Before the session began, MPs of the Congress, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Revolutionary Socialist Party and the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party submitted adjournment motions in the Lower House, demanding a discussion on the education of Indian students evacuated from Ukraine.

Several Indian citizens, mostly medical students, have been evacuated from Ukraine since Russia began its invasion of the former Soviet country on February 24. These students had to leave their studies in Ukraine midway.

On Sunday, the Congress had said it would raise the matters of evacuation from Ukraine, inflation and unemployment during the Parliament session, reported PTI. Several students have criticised the Indian government’s rescue efforts, describing their ordeal on social media as well as after they returned to India.

Meanwhile, the government on Monday also sought approval of Parliament to spend an extra Rs 1.07 lakh crore during the financial year 2022-’23, reported PTI.

The second half of the Budget Session will have 19 sittings, reported the Hindustan Times.

The Upper House will have four days for Private Member’s Business, reported IANS. The Question Hour will be held for one hour as usual. During the last session, the Question Hour was reduced to half an hour because of the reduced timing of the sitting.

The sitting will also be held between 11 am and 6 pm instead of 10 am till 3 pm as it was done in the first half.

On February 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had presented the Budget for 2022-’23 with the ambition of fostering strong economic growth through public investment.

The government’s total expenditure for financial year 2022-’23 was estimated at Rs 39.45 lakh crore and the total revenues pegged at Rs 22.84 lakh crore. The total borrowings for the next year was estimated at Rs 11,58,719 crore, the finance minister had said.

The amount is about Rs 2 lakh crore higher than the current year’s Budget estimate for borrowings of Rs 9.7 lakh crore.

The Budget had focused on digital currency, large infrastructure projects and small businesses, among other things.

Leaders of the Opposition parties had criticised the Union Budget, saying the Narendra Modi government had done little for the poor and middle-class citizens, who had been worst affected by the coronavirus pandemic. They had said that the problems raised by farmers were not considered. Many politicians had also highlighted the concerns over unemployment.

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