Union Budget on February 1

New Delhi:  The Budget Session of Parliament will begin on January 29 and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will present the Union Budget on February 1, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said as the Winter Session drew to a close on Friday.

The long Budget Session is held in two parts with a recess. The first part of the session will be till February 9, and Parliament will reconvene on March 5 for the second part, which will go on till April 6, the minister said.

The Winter Session was delayed and shorter than usual, convened on December 15 after the Gujarat elections amid much criticism from Opposition parties. The Winter Session had 13 sittings spread over a period of 22 days. Both the Houses were adjourned sine die on Friday.

The productivity of the Lok Sabha was 91.58 per cent while that of the Rajya Sabha was 56.29 per cent in the Winter Session, Ananth Kumar said. "In a way this session was landmark... 13 Bills were passed in the Lok Sabha and nine in the Rajya Sabha during the 13 working days of the Winter Session," the minister told reporters.

During the Winter Session, the government was hoping to get Parliament to clear the Muslim Women Protection of Rights in Marriage Bill 2017 that seeks to make the instant "triple talaq" a criminal offence and proposes up to three years in jail as punishment for a Muslim man who divorces his wife by saying "talaq" thrice.

Triple talaq Bill pushed to budget session With the Rajya Sabha adjourned sine die on Friday, the controversial triple talaq bill was pushed to the budget session that begins on January 29.