The Puducherry Legislative Assembly is likely to be called again on 22 August to present the annual budget for 2022-23.
According to a government source, the assembly is likely to be called again at around 9.30 pm. On Monday, M. He said that the Chief Minister would present his fourteenth budget as the Finance Minister of the Union Territory.
“On the reorganization, the only agenda will be the presentation of the budget. The Motion of Thanks on the Lt Governor’s Address will be discussed the next day. The session is likely to be very short,” a member of the ruling party told The Hindu.
The National Democratic Alliance government, led by the All India NR Congress, presented a vote of ₹3,613 crore in March to meet the administration’s expenditure needs for the first five months of the current financial year.
The government has to clear the budget by the end of this month to clear the expenditure including disbursement of salaries and pensions.
The member said that under this criterion, the departments will have to pass the budget by August 29 or 30 for depositing the salary bills in the account as per the schedule.
The assembly was called for the budget session on August 10 but was adjourned on the same day the Lt Governor delivered his customary address as there was no clarity on seeking approval from the Center to present the annual financial statement.
However, the next day, the Union Home Ministry informed the Union Territory about the approval for the budget, albeit with a lower outlay than that approved by the Puducherry Planning Board. Though the board had fixed an outlay of Rs 11,000 crore for the current fiscal, the Center approved a budget of slightly less than Rs 10,700 crore.
Sources said that a cabinet meeting will be held soon to approve the budget speech.