‘Something out of ordinary’: Nirmala Sitharaman interacts with college students who witnessed Parliament's Budget session live

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, connected Sunday (February 1, 2026), interacted with 30 assemblage students who witnessed the league unrecorded successful Parliament from the Lok Sabha assemblage during the presumption of the Union Budget 2026-27.

She described the enactment arsenic a departure from the accustomed signifier of giving interviews to newspapers and tv studios aft the Budget presentation. Speaking astatine the Youth Dialogue connected Budget 2026, Ms. Sitharaman said the thought came from her team, who suggested taking a antithetic attack this time.

“This clip my squad thought of doing thing retired of the ordinary, saying, ‘You spell aft presenting the fund to each 1 of the studios oregon each 1 of the newspapers and springiness them inter...’” she said.

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She shared that they devised the thought of inviting assemblage students to Parliament, asking the attendees to stock their experience.

“Therefore, they thought that they would get successful interaction with universities and travel with a radical of students with whom they tin bash this interaction, and that’s however this has worked out... I would surely similar to cognize from you what the acquisition of sitting successful the parliament and listening to a fund was like,” she said.

Ms. Sitharaman besides spoke astir the efforts that are being made to guarantee a “better India” for students portion drafting a opposition with the India she grew up in.

“Every present and then, I tin archer you what the state I was calved successful is, what the state I was brought up successful is, and what this state is wherever I americium surviving now. But that India, I wouldn’t privation immoderate of you each to remember. That’s not the India we privation anymore successful the aboriginal for anybody. We privation a amended India,” Ms. Sitharaman said.

Clarifying that she does not deliberation that everything successful the past tin beryllium perceived arsenic negative, the Finance Minister added, “I’m not saying everything which happened successful the past is bad, but due to the fact that of the mode successful which economies grew aft coming retired of imperialism, our gait of growth, our benignant of growth, and our benignant of governance made it delayed. Everything was delayed.”