Himachal Budget Session Concludes after 16 Sittings and 75 Hours of Proceedings
Shimla: On the final day of the budget session of the Legislative Assembly, Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu announced that the Himachal Pradesh government would release a white paper on the state’s weak economy. This announcement came in response to MLA Rajendra Rana’s proposal under Rule 130 to strengthen the economy and reduce wasteful expenditure in the state.
The Chief Minister acknowledged that the state’s economic condition was not good and added that the government was working towards bringing the state’s economy back on track within the next four and a half years.
Sukhu also pointed out that the state had to take a loan of Rs. 6,000 crores within the first 100 days of the government. He criticized the previous BJP government for doing nothing to improve the economic situation and mentioned that despite the poor financial condition of the state, the previous government had opened 920 institutions in the last six months of its tenure without infrastructure and for political gains. The Chief Minister emphasized that tough decisions needed to be taken to improve the system.
In terms of revenue generation, the Chief Minister mentioned that the state government to raise funds from water cess, excise policy, and electricity projects. He added that income from the auction of liquor contracts had increased by 40 percent, and income was also being generated by increasing the cess on diesel. Sukhu also mentioned that the Shangtang Project would be completed in 2025 and generate an annual income of Rs. 1,000 crores.
In addition to this, the Chief Minister announced the formation of a committee to solve the problems of MLAs, with the Assembly Speaker as its chairman and several MLAs as its members. The committee will keep the report of the problems in the house.
Budget Session concluded, 8 bills were introduced and passed
The Budget Session of the 14th Legislative Assembly of Himachal Pradesh concluded today. The session witnessed a total of 16 sittings over the course of 22 days, including two non-official working days, Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania said in a press statement. The proceedings of the House lasted for 75 hours and saw participation from 52 members during the four-day general discussion on the budget estimates, which were presented by the Chief Minister on March 17 for the financial year 2023-2024.
During the session, the government provided answers to 639 starred and 257 unstarred questions, while detailed discussions were held on five topics under Rule-62, one topic under Rule-63, and an adjournment motion under Rule-67 related to institutions de-notified by the government.
In addition, the assembly introduced and passed eight government bills after discussion, and raised eight subjects through special mention under Rule-324. The members were also apprised of the facts related to these subjects by the government. The assembly also saw the presentation of 28 reports of the committees and important statements by the Ministers, including the placement of documents related to their respective departments on the floor of the House.
