We all know that every year, India¡¯s Finance Minister presents the country¡¯s Union Budget, right? But seldom do we talk about how it all started. Do you know when was India¡¯s first Budget presented, and by whom? Read on as we bring to you a slice of India¡¯s history just about a week before FM Sitharaman gets set to present the Interim Budget on February 1st, 2024.
RK Shanmukham Chetty, independent India¡¯s first Finance Minister, presented the country¡¯s first budget on November 26, 1947, just three months after India gained independence from British rule.?
Chetty was a well-educated man who was born in Coimbatore on October 17, 1892. He completed his legal studies at Madras Law College and studied economics at Madras Christian College. After graduating, he entered politics and worked for the Indian nationalist Justice Party as well as the Swaraj Party. From 1935 until 1941, he served as the Diwan of the Cochin kingdom.
Chetty was India¡¯s first Finance Minister after the country¡¯s independence in 1947, and was chosen for the role by India's first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
The first post independence budget projected a fiscal deficit of Rs. 24.59 crore and total revenues of Rs. 171.15 crore. Before assuming the position of Finance Minister, Chetty presided over India's Central Legislative Assembly from 1933 to 1935.
RK Shanmukham Chetty passed away on May 5, 1953 at the age of 60.
Many decades before India got freedom from the British rule, the first pre-independence Budget for India was presented by James Wilson on February 18, 1869. Wilson is also the man who introduced the concept of income tax in India. Click here to read more about him.
Also Read:?20 Terms You Must Know Ahead Of Interim?Budget 2024
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