Union Budget App: What Is It, How To Download, Features And More

The Union Government Budget app makes the budget documents available to members of the parliament and the general public in one place. The app facilitates viewing of 14 Union Budget documents, including constitutionally prescribed Annual Financial Statements (AFS), Demands for Grants (DG), Financial Bill and more such important documents in a eco-friendly digital mode.

Following is the list of 14 Budget documents presented in parliament

• Finance Minister's Budget Speech

• Annual Financial Statement

• Demands for Grants

• Finance Bill

• Statements mandated under the FRBM Act: a) Macro-Economic Framework Statement, b) Medium-Term Fiscal Policy cum Fiscal Policy Strategy Statement

• Expenditure Budget

• Receipt Budget

• Expenditure Profile

• Budget at a Glance

• Memorandum Explaining the Provisions in Finance Bill

• Output Outcome Monitoring Framework

• Key Features of Budget

• Key to Budget Documents

The documents shown at serial numbers 2, 3 and 4 are mandated by Article 112, 113 and 110(a) of the Constitution of India respectively. While the documents with serial numbers 5a and 5b are presented as per the provisions of the FRBM Act, 2003. ,The documents from serial number 6 to 13 are in the nature of explanatory statements supporting the mandated documents with the narrative in a user-friendly format suited for quick or contextual references.

Following are the details about the Union Budget App:

• Before the Union Budget 2021, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced the Union Budget Mobile App at the Halwa ceremony.

• The app was created to make 14 budget-related documents easily accessible to members of parliament and the general public.

• Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was initially put in place to forbid physical contact in the legislature, but it is now also helping the government's goal of making India a digital nation.

• The app was created by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) for iOS and Android operating systems under the direction of the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA).

• Users of the application can quickly browse, download, and even print budget documents.

• This budget app will include digital versions of the Union Budget, the Finance Bill, the Demand for Grants, and all other budget papers as prescribed by the Constitution.

• The software has external links and a table of contents, and users may zoom in and out of documents as needed.

• Another feature of the Union Budget Mobile App is bidirectional scrolling.

• The budget is available for users to peruse in Hindi or English.

• The app also offers additional features like Key to Budget, which efficiently teaches users how to comprehend the Union Budget.

• Users can also view the whole budget sheet through the specific location where the budget documents will be made available.

• The software is free to download from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.