India finance minister ditches 'colonial' briefcase to deliver budget
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chose to ditch the practice of delivering the country's budget to parliament in a "colonial" briefcase, choosing instead to flaunt a traditional bright-red ledger known as bahi-khata in Hindi.
Chief Economic Adviser Krishnamurthy Subramanian said the traditional ledger symbolized a “departure from the slavery of western thought.”
Sitharaman’s budget, the first since India Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s re-election, announced various economic measures including a housing boost for the middle-class, stimulation for new start-ups and measures to improve infrastructure.
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Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, center right, and junior Finance Minister Anurag Thakur, center, stands for the media at the parliament house before unveiling the annual federal budget in New Delhi, India, Friday, July 5. (AP)
Previously India’s defense minister, Sitharaman is the first female finance minister since Indira Gandhi, who held the position in 1970-1 while also acting as prime minister.
Her decision to hold the traditional ledger sparked debate on Indian social media, resulting in much praise and some ridicule.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}India’s Finance Minister chose to abandon the “colonial” budget briefcase while presenting her maiden budget to parliament, choosing instead to flaunt a traditional bright-red ledger known as bahi-khata in Hindi. (AP)
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Many lauded her commitment to Indian tradition while others criticized it, asking questions like why she drove to parliament in a vehicle instead of riding there by bullock cart.
Writer Samanth Subramanian described the “colonial” budget briefcase as a “giant colonial holdover, harking back to a similar budget speech that has been delivered by Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer for many decades.”
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Fox News' Morgan Cheung contributed to this report.