The stage is set for the commencement of the budget session of the State Legislature from Monday.
The session will commence with Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan addressing the joint session of the Legislature on Monday morning. The meeting of the Business Advisory Committee of the Legislature will follow to finalise the agenda and the number of days the Legislature would be in session. The ruling party, according to TRS leaders, is prepared to conduct the session as long as the Opposition wants to, provided the proceedings are conducted in a meaningful way so that the debates yield decisions in the interests of the people.
The House will debate on the motion of thanks for Governor’s address for two days – March 13 and 14 – and this will conclude with Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s reply. Finance Minister Eatala Rajender is expected to present his fifth budget, the last full-fledged budget of the current Assembly, on March 15.
Though the size of the budget is not known yet, official sources claimed that the budget outlay would be at least 15 to 20% higher than the current year’s ₹1.49 lakh crore.
Given the fact that the State enters an election year, welfare schemes, especially those meant for the BCs, SCs, STs and minorities, are expected to get liberal allocations, while focus would be on government’s flagship programmes. The irrigation sector is likely to receive a lion’s share of the budget with allocations of over ₹25,000 crore as some of the major projects, including the Kaleshwaram project, are in the advanced stages of implementation.
The budget this time would have significant allocations for agriculture and its allied sectors, thanks to Chief Minister’s assurance of introduction of Investment Subsidy Scheme aimed at giving an input assistance of ₹8,000 an acre to farmers at ₹4,000 an acre each for kharif and rabi.
Covering over 1.7 crore acres of land and over 70 lakh farmers, the Investment Subsidy Scheme is estimated to cost the government over ₹12,000 crore for the entire year. The emphasis would also be high on welfare sectors, particularly the double-bedroom housing scheme for eligible families from the weaker sections in addition to allocations that are planned for residential educational institutions. The session is expected to witness heated debates on several issues, particularly the Bill for enhanced reservation to minorities and STs, which was returned by the Central government.
