Jammu: The first budget session of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly post abrogation of Article 370, will begin from March 3, 2025.
The 21-day budget session will commence with the customary address of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.
Officials said, “the 21 days first budget session of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly after August 5, 2019 will begin from March 3, 2025 and for the first time in the last six years, the annual budget of Jammu and Kashmir will be presented.”
Notably, the last budget of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was presented in the year 2018.
On October 31, under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act passed on August 5, 2019, the state of Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into two Union Territories, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
The first assembly was formed in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir last year with peaceful and successful conduct of the Assembly elections.
Officials said, “generally, the union territories have a briefer budget session than states and also, Jammu and Kashmir currently has only six ministers, including the chief minister, and three vacancies are yet to be filled in the council of ministers.”
The time allotted for government business, including the debate on the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address, debate on the budgets and grants of ministries, and private member’s resolutions and bills, will be decided by the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) of the Assembly, they added.
The first session of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly was held in November last year in Srinagar while the second assembly and first budget session of the first assembly of the Union Territory will begin on March 3 in Jammu.
Notably, in the state cabinet meeting held on January 20, 2025 under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, a proposal was passed to convene the budget session on March 3, 2025 following which, the proposal was sent to the Lieutenant Governor for final approval, which as per officials, has been given the nod.
“Speaker, Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly Abdul Rahim Rather will soon call a meeting of the Assembly’s Business Advisory Committee (BAC) in which the duration of the session and the business will be decided,” said an official.
He added, the date for presenting the budget by the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for the year 2025-26 will also be decided in the meeting.
The last budget of Rs 80,313 crore for the financial year 2018-19 in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was presented by the then Finance Minister Dr. Haseeb Drabu on January 11, 2018.
In June 2018, the PDP-BJP coalition government led by Mehbooba Mufti collapsed after BJP withdrew support from the alliance and the assembly was dissolved in November 2018.
The then State Administrative Council (SAC) headed by the then Governor Satya Pal Malik adopted a budget of Rs 88,911 crore for 2019-2020 on December 15, 2018.
Subsequently, the 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 the Legislative Assembly in Jammu and Kashmir.
The budget of Rs 1,18,728 crore of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir for the current financial year 2024-25 was presented in Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 23, 2024.
The budget of Jammu and Kashmir for 2023-24 was also Rs 1,18,500 crore. (UNI)
