How is the budget debated in Parliament?
Budget discussion in the Lok Sabha is a two-stage process. In the first stage there is a general discussion on the budget as a whole, lasting 4-5 days. Only the broad contours of the budget and the principles and policies underlying it are discussed at this stage. After the general discussion on both the railway and general budgets, the House is adjourned for a period. In this interval, demands for grants of various ministries and departments including railways are considered by the concerned standing committees (Rule 331G). These committees are required to submit their reports to the House within a specified period without asking for more time. The reports of the standing committees are of persuasive nature, they cannot suggest anything in the nature of cut motions.
How are demands for grants dealt with by the Lok Sabha?
After the reports of the standing committees are available with the House, it begins discussion and voting on demands for grants of each ministry. The speaker, in consultation with the leader of the House, fixes for the time for discussion and voting on demands for grants. On the last day, the speaker puts all the outstanding demands to vote. This process is known as 'guillotine'. The Lok Sabha has the power to assent to or refuse to give assent to any demand or even to reduce the amount of grant sought by the government.
What are cut motions?
These are moved to discuss specific matters by the minister concerned or to ventilate grievances or to suggest economies. Each motion has to focus on one matter and one demand, which needs to be precisely stated. It must not relate to expenditure charged to the consolidated fund of India and not suggest any change of law. There are three types of cuts.
What are the different types of cut motions?
Policy cuts: There is a notional cut of Re 1 to express total disapproval of the policy. Token cut: Grant is sought to be reduced by Rs 100 and the purpose is to ventilate a grievance relating to the demand. Economy cuts: There are cuts suggested by members to bring about economy in expenditure, or to reduce the demand by such amounts that may be considered necessary.
What are the implications of a cut motion getting passed?
The cut motions are put to vote after discussion. Depending on the result of the vote the demands are either reduced or allowed to go through. Cut motions invariably put the government on the defensive, but if the replies are convincing and the ruling party has a good majority then it would not mean much. If the cut motion goes through, the government will have to resign.
Being a part of the Tata group, the fund has the backing of a very trusted brand name with strong retail connect. While the current CEO has done an excellent job in leveraging the Tata brand name to AMC's advantage, it is ironic that this was just not capitalised on at the start. Incorporated in 1995, Tata Mutual Fund remained an 'also-ran' fund house for around eight years. Till March 2003, it had a little over Rs 1,000 crore in assets and 19 AMCs were ahead of it. But soon after that the equation changed. It was the fastest growing fund house in 2004 and 2005. During these two years, it aggressively launched six equity funds, two debt funds and one MIP. The fund house as of now stands at No. 8 in terms of asset size. This fund house has a lot to offer by way of choice. And, it also has a number of well performing schemes. Tata Pure Equity, Tata Equity PE and Tata Infrastructure are all good funds. It also has quite a few good debt funds. The funds of Tata AMC are known to...
