Top bureaucrats leave for New Delhi
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 4: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will tomorrow present an interim budget (Vote-on-Account) for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir for next financial year of 2024-25 and supplementary demands for grants for 2023-24 in Lok Sabha.
The interim budget is being presented due to Lok Sabha elections due in April-May and the full budget will be presented either in June or July after formation of new Government at the Centre, the officials here said.
Tomorrow’s business schedule for Lok Sabha says that the Finance Minister will present a statement of estimated receipts and expenditure of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir for the financial year of 2024-25. She will also present a statement showing supplementary demands for grants in respect of Jammu and Kashmir for 2023-24.
Top officers from Jammu and Kashmir including Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo and Principal Secretary Finance Department Santosh D Vaidya have reached New Delhi to be present in the Parliament during presentation of interim budget of Jammu and Kashmir.
Besides the interim budget for few months of next fiscal, the Finance Minister will also present supplementary grants for ongoing financial year of 2023-24.
“Though it will be an interim budget, the focus will be on development of infrastructure, rural development, agriculture and horticulture etc,” the officials said, adding the Government voted to power in April-May elections will present full budget of Jammu and Kashmir for 2024-25 in June or July as there are no chances of Assembly elections being held in the Union Territory by then.
A day each is likely to be reserved in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for discussion on interim budget for Jammu and Kashmir. With interim budget approval from the Parliament, the finances of Jammu and Kashmir will go on uninterrupted and there will be no problem on this account.
As per the officials, the Jammu and Kashmir Government can go ahead with its planning for next financial year of 2024-24 for the districts, Panchayati Raj Institutions, Urban Local Bodies, infrastructure development etc on the basis of interim budget as well as presumption of amount it will get in the full budget.
Though there are no elected Panchayats, Block Development Councils and Urban Local Bodies in place, the UT Government will seek due grants for them from the Central Government as elections to them have been delayed only because of granting reservation to Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
Only when there is elected Assembly in place in Jammu and Kashmir, the budget of the UT will be presented in the Legislature. Till then, it will continue to be presented in the Parliament.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration is aiming full budget whenever it is presented to the tune of Rs 1.20 lakh crore for next financial year of 2024-25.
Current year’s budget of Jammu and Kashmir i.e. 2023-24 is worth Rs 1, 18,500 crore while in last fiscal i.e. 2022-23, it was Rs 1, 12,950 crore.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had presented J&K’s budget for 2020-21 on March 17, 2020, 2021-22 on March 17, 2021, 2022-23 on March 14, 2022 and 2023-24 on March 13, 2023.
The budget for 2019-2020 was adopted by the then State Administrative Council (SAC) here while budget of 2018-19 was last to be presented in the Assembly of erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir by then Finance Minister Dr Haseeb Drabu before the Government collapsed after withdrawal of support to Mehbooba Mufti-led coalition Government by the BJP in June 2018.
From June 2018, Jammu and Kashmir remained under President’s Rule followed by Governor’s rule till the erstwhile States was bifurcated into two Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh after abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution of India on August 5, 2019 by the Central Government. Though J&K is a UT with the Legislature, the Assembly elections are yet to be held. Ladakh, however, is a UT without Legislature.
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