v Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather reached the Assembly Hall at 11.01 am. Speaker Mubarak Gul called the Finance Minister within a minute of his arrival to start the budget speech. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah also entered the House simultaneously. Mr Rather shook hand with Omar before starting his budget speech at 11.05 am.
v Mr Rather concluded his budget speech at 12.52 pm. Omar stayed in the House throughout the House. This was the lengthiest speech in the recent times, which Mr Rather read in Urdu.
v This was 14th budget of Mr Rather and sixth in a row. He has also taken two Vote-on-Account. This was last budget of the present ruling dispensation as Assembly elections are due late this year.
v Mr Rather started his speech with a couplet ‘Mainay In Tund Hawaon Main Jalay Hain Chirag, Jin Hawaon Nai Palat Dhi Hain Bisatain Aksar’. He ended the speech with another couplet ‘Maqasid Nek Hon, Himmat Ho, Rastay Kaa Tawayain Ho, To Fir Dushwari-e-Manzil Bahut Aasan Hoti Hain’.
v Mr Rather said this was only the third occasion in the Legislature history when the same Government presented six budgetary proposal under the same leader of the House. The first two occasion had come under the leadership of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in 1977, the second under Dr Farooq Abdullah in 1996 and now under present Chief Minister Omar Abdullah
v Mr Rather remarked: “this is not a mere coincidence of history. It reveals much more to the discerning eye of any political observer’’. Worthwhile to mention here that Mr Rather today presented his sixth consecutive budget.
v PDP leader and former Finance Minister Muzaffar Hussain Beig today came to the House for the first time during the current session. He reached the House about 10 minutes before presentation of the budget. He was scheduled to start discussion on the budget on Sunday.
v The main Opposition party—PDP including the party leader Mehbooba Mufti listened to the budget speech for the full time. There were no disruptions during the budget. The treasury benches quite often thumped the desks during the budget speech.
v During Mr Rather’s customary press conference after the budget presentation, a reporter sought to know the details of expenditure on “renovation of Ministers’’. Mr Rather quickly remarked that expenditure is incurred not on renovation of Ministers but their bungalows.
v “You seems to be an expert on excise,’’ Mr Rather told another reporter, who wanted to know whether the liquor prices would be hiked after the budget.
v “There is no separate budget for security of the separatists,’’ he told another questioner, who wanted to get details of the budgetary amount spent on security of separatists.
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