Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Mar 23: The budget of five to 12 Departments involving four to six Ministers would be debated and passed in the Legislative Assembly in a day in just four and half days kept for over 25 Departments of the State Government, beginning March 25. Budget of all Departments will be passed in the second sitting of March 30 with March 28 as holiday on account of Ramnavmi.
A bulletin issued by the Legislative Assembly Secretariat today for budget of all Ministries revealed that even all Departments held by Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed including all important Home, GAD, Tourism etc would be debated and their demands passed in half day sitting.
“The budget of all Departments would be passed in four and half days including March 25, 26, 27, 29 and first sitting of March 30. In second sitting of March 30, the Appropriation bill, which is total sum of all Departments will be passed,” official sources said.
The grants of Finance Department, Planning and Development Department, Public Enterprises, Labour and Employment Department, Stationary and Printing and Government Press have been listed during first sitting (half day working) of March 25. Finance Minister Dr Haseeb Drabu will reply to the grants even though the Planning and Development Department is held by the Chief Minister.
In second sitting the same day, Social Welfare, Forests, Ecology and Environment and Industries and Commerce Departments would come up for debate and passing of their budget. Forests and Social Welfare Minister Bali Bhagat and Industries and Commerce Minister Chander Prakash Ganga will give replies.
Agriculture, Floriculture, Horticulture, Cooperatives, Animal and Sheep Husbandry and Fisheries Departments have been listed for debate and passing of their grants during first sitting of March 26 while Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD), Transport, Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation, Haj and Auqaf Departments would be debated and their grants passed in second sitting of the same Day.
As many as eight Ministers hold charge of the Departments, which will go for debate on March 26. They included Ghulam Nabi Lone Hanjura (Agriculture), Sajjad Lone (Animal Husbandry), Choudhary Zulfikar (CAPD), Abdul Ghani Kohli (Transport), Javed Mustafa Mir (Revenue), Basharat Bukhari (Relief and Rehabilitation), Abdul Rehman Veeri (Haj and Auqaf ) and Chering Dorjey (Cooperatives).
However, grants of Cooperatives have been listed on the name of Agriculture Minister while grants of Relief and Rehabilitation and Haj and Auqaf have been listed against the name of Revenue Minister.
On March 27, the Departments listed for passing their grants included Parliamentary Affairs, Law and Justice (including Elections), Rural Development and Panchayati Raj in the first sitting, Public Works (R&B), PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control in the second sitting. The charge of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs is held by Basharat Bukhari, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj by Abdul Haq Khan, Public Works by Altaf Bukhari and PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control by Choudhary Sukhnandan Kumar.
The Departments listed for debate and passing of their budget on March 29 (after March 28 break) included Higher Education, Education, Health and Medical Education in first sitting, Power Development Department, Housing and Urban Development Department in the second sitting. The charge of Higher Education and Education Departments is held by Naeem Akhter, Health and Medical Education by Lal Singh, PDD and Housing and Urban Development by Dr Nirmal Singh.
The grants of the Departments held by Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed (excepting Planning and Development Department) have been listed for half day on March 30. The Departments included GAD, Science and Technology, Information Technology, Home, Information, Ladakh Affairs, Tourism, Libraries, Archives, Cultural Academy, Hospitality and Protocol.
In second sitting of March 30, the budget will be passed in the form of Appropriation bill, which will be introduced by the Finance Minister.
The Government sources were of the view that grants of number of Departments in such short time period had to be passed as the budget was supposed to get Legislature nod at any cost before March 31.
“We had limited time and there was no other option but to list the Departments collectively as the budget had to be passed before March 31,” they said, adding the budget was prepared in record time of 19 days as the Government was formed on March 1 while portfolios were allocated on March 3.
However, some of the legislators to whom the Excelsior spoke were of the view that neither they nor the Ministers would be able to do justice with the departments during debate and reply with very little time available to them.
During his tenure as the Chief Minister from 2005-2008, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad had introduced the concept of Parliament in the J&K Assembly under which grants of very selected departments were debated in the House. However, that practice didn’t last long especially after the Azad Government.
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