Budget-making needs to be disaggregated

It is time to rethink the need for an omnibus mechanism for the three distinct tasks that budgets encompass, and unbundle them so that we can do justice to each of the three tasks

It will soon be time for the Union and state Budgets, the principal rituals of the Indian fiscal system. The Budgets receive extensive media coverage and are given critical attention by experts and the laity alike.

Budgets, as presented in India, broadly encompass three distinct tasks. The first is a constitutional obligation of the Union or the state government under Articles 112 and 202, to present to Parliament or the state Legislatures — as the case may be — a statement of estimated receipts and expenditure for every financial year, called the annual financial statement. The second task is the