With Chief Minister Jayalalithaa announcing new schemes worth thousands of crores of rupees through statements in the legislature, DMK president M. Karunanidhi wondered whether funds for these schemes would come from the budget already presented in the House or the government would make fresh allocations.
In a statement here, he said while the demands for grants for Agriculture, Food and Consumer Protection and Animal Husbandry department were discussed in the House on April 5, 8 and 17 respectively, the Chief Minister made new announcements for the departments on May 6.
These were in the form of statements under Rule 110 of the Assembly rules, under which no discussion is permitted after the statement is made.
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The allocation mentioned in the announcement regarding agriculture alone was Rs. 984 crore while in the budget the department received Rs. 5,189 crore. “So the question is whether the measures mentioned in the fresh announcement will be part of the budget allocation or additional funds will be released by the government,” he said.
Mr. Karunanidhi also wanted to know whether the new measures were discussed in the Cabinet and why these were not included in the budget. “Why are Ministers not allowed to make these announcements while replying to the discussion on the demands for grants for their departments in the Assembly,” he asked.