Discussion held on Budget
By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 29 Feb: After the lunch break, when the House sat again, today, the discussion on budget that had been initiated late last evening resumed. Later, the demands on grants and the Budget for FY 2024-25 along with the Appropriation Bill were passed by voice vote amid some protests from the Opposition members. Responding to the budget discussion, Finance Minister Prem Chand Aggarwal sought the approval of the house on each demand on grant and got it passed by voice vote.
Earlier, while the Treasury members praised the budget liberally, the opposition members criticised it. Beginning the discussion, today, Brij Bhushan Gairola praised the budget, adding that adequate provisions had been made for the agriculture sector and that the state was showing considerable progress towards becoming an organic state. Bansidhar Bhagat, Adesh Chauhan, Vinod Kandari were among those who praised the budget. BJP’s Munna Singh Chauhan spoke at length, which led to a protest by the Opposition members who alleged that certain members of the Treasury bench are being allowed to speak for much longer than the Opposition members.
One of the best orators in the House, Munna Singh Chauhan said that the budget is not just a numerical set of figures but a statement of intent and will. He asserted that not even the most developed nations can’t provide for everything demanded in their budgets. There is bound to be some gap between the demand and the actual provisions in each sector or project or scheme. He, however, expressed concern over the disparity in the GDP and per capita income of the three districts of the plains, namely Haridwar, US Nagar and Dehradun and the ten districts of the hills. This gap needed to be narrowed, he stated.
Vinod Kandari, Adesh Chauhan, Savita Kapoor and Parvati Devi were among those who praised the budget, while Rajendra Bhandari, Tilak Raj Behad, Bhuvan Kapri, Harish Dhami, Anupama Rawat were among those who criticised it.
After the discussion, as Finance Minister Aggarwal and other ministers were seeking approval of the House for the demands on grants related to their departments, the Opposition members for the first time entered the Well and kept on raising slogans against the government.
It may be recalled that, last evening, Leader of the Opposition, Yashpal Arya had initiated the discussion on the budget, while Pritam Singh and other members spoke at length in criticism of the budget.
House adjourned sine die
By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 29 Feb: After the passage of the budget on the fourth day of the session, today, the House was adjourned sine die late this evening amid allegations by the Opposition members that the government does not want to run the House for sufficient time. This time the House ran for four days of which the first day was consumed by the Governor’s address, leaving just three days of business, yet another indication of the fact that the sessions of late have been curtailed to a great extent and the House is not running as per the recommendations under the rules.
