The budget session of the State Legislature is likely to begin shortly even as the government has intensified efforts to prepare a list of department wise tentative allocations.
“The Finance department is collecting information from all departments. It is still in process,” a senior official said. Legislative Assembly Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy is expected to convene a meeting of the State Legislature officials shortly to discuss about the conduct of the budget session and this would be followed by the meeting of the State Cabinet.
The session would be notified soon after the Cabinet clears Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan’s address to the joint session of the legislature.
Members are likely to be given notice about the session three days in advance. Accordingly, the session is likely to start tentatively from February 28 or March 3. The Governor would address the legislature on the first day of the session and this would be followed by Motion of Thanks to Governor’s address in the next sitting, which will also feature reply by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to the motion.
The Business Advisory Committee would meet the same day to finalise the duration and agenda for the session. This would be followed by presentation of the budget in the first week of March after the Cabinet formally gives its nod for the budget whose outlay is expected to be higher than the current fiscal year’s ₹2.3 lakh crore. Inclusion of Dalit Bandhu, with a grant of ₹10 lakh each for beneficiaries, is expected to result in higher outlay as the Chief Minister had assured to provide budgetary allocation of ₹20,000 crore for the scheme from next year.
The legislature is expected to pass the demands for grants pertaining to various departments after thorough discussions in the take up discussion in both the Houses – the Assembly and the Council. “Budget for the next financial year has to be passed before March 31 as the new financial year will start from April 1. We have sufficient time for making arrangements for the smooth conduct of the session,” an official of the Secretariat said.
