Manmohan Singh hopes Budget session will be peaceful, productive

New Delhi, Feb 21 (ANI): The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, today said the Budget session of Parliament is very crucial and hoped the proceedings would be peaceful.

" This Budget session of Parliament is very crucial. We hope to bring some important pieces of legislation for consideration of Parliament," he told reporters at Parliament House.

Government has been under opposition attack over 2G spectrum allocation, Adarsh housing, Commonwealth Games and ISRO S-band scams.

On Monday, at an all-party meeting called by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, the government conveyed to the Opposition that it would move a resolution for Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) in the House on February 22, which will be followed by a discussion on the floor of the House, according to sources.

Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal will move a motion to this effect in Parliament on February 22 and the Speaker will decide on the terms of reference of the JPC, the sources added.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pavan Kumar Bansal had earlier said that the government will take a decision on JPC probe issue before Wednesday.

"We have worked out something...but we can"t say anything right now. But we want the Opposition to cooperate with the government and ensure that Parliament functions," said Bansal.

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will present the "General Budget" to the Lok Sabha on February 28.

The session will be in two parts-the first upto March 16 and the second from April 4 to 21.

The Railway Budget will be presented before the Rajya Sabha on February 25.

The standing committees of various ministries will use the recess between the two parts of the session to scrutinise the budgetary demands for grants. (ANI)