On February 1, 2023, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Budget 2023–24. This was her fifth Budget presentation; learn more about her background, schooling, political career, and more by reading the information below.

On February 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget for the fifth time. The 2021 budget speech was the longest in Indian history, lasting two hours and forty minutes, while the 2022 Finance Minister’s introduction to the budget lasted roughly 1.5 hours.

Nirmala Sitharaman, an Indian politician, is the country’s current minister of finance in addition to being the minister of corporate affairs. Rajya Sabha MP Nirmala Sithraman has served since 2014. She has previously held the positions of Minister of Commerce and Industry, Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs (Ministry of Finance), and Minister of Defence of India.

Nirmala Sitharaman: Personal life, Family and Education

On August 18, 1959, in Madurai, Nirmala Sitharaman was born to Savitri and Narayanan Sitharaman. Sitharaman’s mother’s family was from Thiruvenkadu, and her father was from Thanjavur and Salem districts in Tamil Nadu. Her father was from Musiri, Tiruchirappalli. Nirmala Sitharaman’s father worked for Indian Railways, and the family she was born into was Tamil Iyengar Brahmin.

Nirmala Sitharaman finished her education in Tiruchirappalli and Madras. Her economics bachelor’s degree from Seethalakshmi Ramaswami College in Tiruchirapalli was completed. She relocated to Delhi in 1984 to finish her studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) for her Master of Arts and Master of Philosophy in economics.

While attending JNU, Nirmala Sitharaman met her husband, Parakala Prabhakar. The couple got married in 1986 despite holding opposing political views, and they have a daughter named Parakala Vangmayi. Sitharaman leant more towards the BJP, while Parakala Prabhakar adhered to Congress ideology. Chandrababu Naidu, the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh at the time, had her husband Parakala Prabhakar as his communications advisor.

Nirmala Sitharaman: Political career

Political Rise

Nirmala Sitharaman joined the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2006, and in 2010 she was appointed as the party’s national spokesperson. Nirmala Sitharaman joined Narendra Modi’s cabinet as a junior minister in 2014 following the BJP’s electoral victory. Sitharaman was chosen as an Andhra Pradesh lawmaker for the Rajya Sabha in June 2014. She ran for and won the Karnataka seat in the May 2016 Rajya Sabha elections.

India’s 1st Full-time Minister of Defence

Nirmala Sitharaman was appointed as the Minister of Defence on September 3, 2017. She is the first woman to hold this position full-time and the second woman to hold it after Indira Gandhi.

India’s first full-time Finance Minister

As the Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister, Sitharaman began her tenure on May 31, 2019, making history as the first full-time female Finance Minister in India. Sitharaman made her debut as a budget presenter in parliament on July 5. She unveiled the Union Budget 2020–21 on February 1, 2020.

After former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, she is the second female minister to present the budget for the 1970–71 fiscal year. Setting a new record, Sitharaman is the first full-time female finance minister, surpassing the five consecutive budgets presented by her predecessors, Yashwant Sinha, Arun Jaitley, Manmohan Singh, and P Chidambaram.

Relief packages during COVID-19 pandemic

Sitharaman took over as the leader of the COVID-19 Economic Response Task Force following the COVID-19 crisis.

She announced the 20 lakh crore “Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan” relief package during a press conference held at the National Media Centre.  The previous relief packages announced by the Government of India and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to address the coronavirus crisis are included in the Rs 20 lakh crore package.

In his fifth speech to the nation since the nationwide lockdown on Tuesday, Prime Minister Modi announced this package to make India self-reliant and urged the populace to speak up in favour of local goods, such as the use of swadeshi. Nirmala Sitharaman, the minister of finance, tweeted, “This shall not be just a financial package, but a reform stimulus, a mindset overhaul, and a thrust in governance.”

The Finance Minister and the Prime Minister both stated that this enormous package will help people from all walks of life during the pandemic and will revitalize the Indian economy.

Nirmala Sitharaman: Before political career

Nirmala Sitharaman was employed as a sales representative at the London-based home décor store Habitat. She also worked as an Agricultural Engineers Association (UK) economist’s assistant. She has also held positions at the BBC World Service and PWC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) as a Senior Manager in the Research and Development division. She belonged to the National Commission for Women as well.

Nirmala Sitharaman Acknowledgments

1. JNU awarded Nirmala Sitharaman the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2019.

2. Forbes Magazine ranked her as the 34th most powerful woman in the world in 2019.

One of the most powerful women India has ever seen is Nirmala Sitharaman. Sitharaman is an inspiration to all women in the nation, having served as the first full-time female Finance Minister and holding multiple positions in the Union Cabinet.