Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac will not get the privilege of getting the full State Budget passed by March 31 so as to face the new financial year beginning April 1 on a fresh slate.
It has become almost sure that the State government will have to go for a four-month vote-on-account as there will be no time to pass the full budget in view of the possibility of the notification for the general elections being published by March 1.
Currently, the Assembly is scheduled to witness budget presentation on January 31, followed by the customary three-day general debate on the budget from February 4 to 6. According to the calendar of sittings, the House is expected to pass the supplementary demands for grants for 2018-19 on February 7.
The Business Advisory Committee is expected to meet on January 25 to finally decide on the vote-on-account and the dates. The general thinking is to compress the vote-on-account debates and pass it on February 7 itself.
Fixed programmes
This is because of a series of prior programmes that have been fixed. The regional meetings of the Kerala Loka Sabha is being held on February 13 and 14 in the UAE and a three-day meeting for students and the youth is scheduled to be held from February 23 to 25.
These programmes were planned quite early and, therefore, the question of rescheduling them does not arise, government sources pointed out.
There is another reason why the vote-on-account would be helpful for the government. As the Union Budget itself would be an interim one and it will be left to the new government to present a full budget. This would give the State government to make the necessary amendments accordingly, the sources said.
