Srinagar: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah will present his maiden budget on March 7. The nearly month-long budget session commenced with the Lieutenant Governor’s address on March 3 followed by a discussion on motion of thanks and reply for the next three days.
The chief minister has ‘for the first time’ personally chaired meetings for all twenty districts, separately, engaging directly with elected representatives to understand their aspirations, regional needs, and development priorities in budget formulation.
“The voices of the people are again shaping the allocation of resources and the prioritization of development goals. This budget is a true celebration of democracy-an expression of the dreams and expectations of every household, every community, and every region of Jammu and Kashmir,” said Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, during his speech in the legislative assembly on March 3.
Sinha had said that this marked a moment of renewal and empowerment, where the collective efforts of the people’s representatives are shaping the future of this land.
“This budget represents a new era of participatory governance, ensuring that the needs and aspirations of the common man remain at the heart of policy making,” he had added.
Abdullah will present the budget on March 7 and there will be general discussion and reply on the Budget for three days on March 8, 10 and 11.
The House will discuss the demand of grants till March 24, appropriation bills on March 25 and will have a break till April 7 when private members bills will be taken up, according to the provisional calendar. April 8 will again witness tabling of private members bills and April 9 private members resolutions and April 11 government business.
There are a total of six holidays — three on account of Sunday (March 9, 16 and 23) and three on account of Holi (March 14), Navroz (March 21) and Mahavir Jayanti (April 10) — during the budget session.
This is the first budget of Abdullah-led National Conference government after it assumed power in October last year. Abdullah had held the charge of home and general administrative department among others during his previous stint as the chief minister in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir from 2009 to 2014.
The previous five budgets were presented and passed by Parliament in the absence of the legislative assembly in Jammu and Kashmir, while the then governor Satya Pal Malik led state administrative council passed the budget for 2019-2020 following the fall of the PDP-BJP government in June 2018.
This is the second session of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly since the formation of the government in the Union Territory. Earlier, the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly met in Srinagar from November 4 to 8.
Omar To Table Maiden Budget In J&K Assembly After 7 Years Today
