Union Budgets: From 1950s Print to Today's Digital — A Historical Journey

• Early Union Budgets relied heavily on newspapers for public dissemination, with front pages shaping public perception.
• Finance Ministers like C.D. Deshmukh and Lal Bahadur Shastri's budgets were detailed in print, covering revenue, expenditure, and new taxes.
• Newspapers evolved from straightforward reporting to more structured, reader-friendly formats with sub-headlines to explain budget proposals.
• Defence spending became a key focus in budget coverage after the 1962 war, influencing tax cut prospects.
• Visual storytelling emerged in the 1970s, using images to engage common households and spark debate on budget implications.

Why It Matters: Union Budget reporting transformed from print-dependent, detailed accounts to modern, visually engaging formats.