Lok Sabha today took up the Finance Bill, 2026, for consideration and passing. The bill seeks to give effect to the financial proposals of the Central Government for the financial year 2026-2027. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman moved the bill in the House.
Initiating the discussion, Dr Amar Singh of Congress raised the issue of unemployment in the country. He alleged that the tax exemption provided by the government is benefiting only selected entities. He said, inflation is the biggest challenge in the country, questioning what the government’s strategies are to tackle it. Participating in the discussion, Dr. Nishikant Dubey accused the UPA government of issuing the Oil Bonds and Gold Bonds in its tenure, saying that these instruments have put an additional burden on the government exchequer at the current times. He said, diesel and oil prices have increased 20 per cent in USA, 23 per cent in Dubai due to the West Asia conflict, but the government has not increased the prices of diesel and petrol to give relief to the people of the country.
Ramshankar Rajbhar of the Samajwadi Party questioned why the unemployment rate is high in the country despite growth in GDP. He also criticised the government’s recent decisions regarding the booking of LPG cylinders. Sougata Ray of Trinamool Congress raised the issue of rupee’s weakness against the US dollar. He accused that expenditures on health and education are going down. Supriya Sule of NCP raised the issue of reported shortage of LPG cylinders, saying that people are facing difficulty in getting cylinders. She also highlighted the rupee downfall against the US dollar, saying that it has reached to 94 rupees per dollar. Arun Nehru of DMK said, debt to GDP ratio has reached to 56 percent and the Central government is not adhering to Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act. Sunil Kumar of JDU lauded the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for presenting the development-oriented and inclusive budget. He said, this year’s budget focuses on employment generation and creating infrastructure. Anil Yeshwant Desai of Shiv Sena (UBT) said, people in metro cities are facing difficulties in getting basic amenities like electricity, good roads, water, and clean air. Ravindra Dattaram Waikar of Shiv Sena said that earlier India was in the fragile five economies, but now it has become the fastest-growing economy in the world. Shambhavi of Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) lauded the government’s initiatives related to women’s empowerment. She said, India is witnessing women-led development. PV Midhun Reddy of YSR Congress, Abhay Kumar Sinha of RJD, Prof. Varsha Eknath Gaikwad of Congress, Basavaraj Bommai of BJP, Raja Ram Singh of CPI(ML) (L), PP Chaudhary of BJP, Neeraj Maurya of Samajwadi Party and others also participated in the debate. The Discussion remained inconclusive. The Lok Sabha was adjourned till 11 AM tomorrow.
