J&K’s first budget in Legislature after 7 years
*40 days session to have 22 sittings
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Feb 14: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who holds charge of the Finance Department, will present his maiden budget in the Legislative Assembly on March 7 which will be listed for the Legislature’s approval on March 25.
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This will be first budget of J&K to be presented in the Legislature after a gap of seven years.
Budget session of the Legislature will last 40 days but will have 22 sittings including 12 days break and six holidays.
The budget session calendar was released today by Assembly Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather.
During his six years tenure as the Chief Minister from 2009-2014, Omar held the charge of Home, GAD and other departments while Rather was the Finance Minister. This time with Government’s no control over Home, Omar has been holding Finance and various other departments.
Dr Haseeb Drabu had presented last budget of Jammu and Kashmir in the Legislature when J&K was a State on January 11, 2018.
The budget session will start with LG Manoj Sinha’s Address on March 3 which will be debated for three days in the Assembly on March 4, 5 and 6. The Chief Minister will reply to the debate on March 6 and present budget on March 7. The Assembly will take up discussion on budget on March 8, 10 and 11. Omar will reply to the budget debate on March 11.
Demands for grants of the Ministers will be taken up for nine days on March 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22 and 24. There are only six Ministers including the Chief Minister in view of three vacancies in the Council of Ministry.
The budget will be listed for Legislature’s approval in the form of Appropration Bill on March 25. The budget is required to get the Assembly nod before March 31. After the budget is passed on March 25, the House will have 12 days break and resume sitting on April 7 when private members’ resolutions will be listed. The resolutions will again be taken up on April 9 while private members’ bills will be introduced in the House on April 8. April 11 is fixed for the Government business.
This will be 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 last year.
Dr Haseeb Drabu had presented last budget of Jammu and Kashmir State in the Legislative Assembly on January 11, 2018 for the financial year of 2018-19 worth Rs 80,313 crore. However, in June 2018, Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP-BJP coalition Government collapsed following withdrawal of support to the Government. In November, 2018, the Assembly was dissolved.
The budget for 2019-20 was adopted by the then State Administrative Council (SAC) headed by then Governor Satya Pal Malik here on December 15, 2018 to the tune of Rs 88,911 crore.
Subsequent budgets of the Union Territory including 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 were presented and passed by the Parliament in the absence of Legislative Assembly in Jammu and Kashmir.
Outgoing financial year 2024-25 budget was presented in the Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 23, 2024 worth Rs 1,18,728 crore. However, an interim budget of the UT (Vote-on-Account) was taken on February 5, 2024 in the Parliament in view of Lok Sabha elections.
Budget for 2023-24 of Jammu and Kashmir was also to the tune of Rs 1,18,500 crore.
For 2025-26, the Union Finance Ministry has given around Rs 41,000 crore worth Central assistance to Jammu and Kashmir which is Rs 1277 crore less than current financial year of 2024-25. Own resources of the Union Territory are also a matter of concern for the Government.
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