Possibly without Guv’s speech again
Is it an indication for early elections?
K Venkateshwarlu
Hyderabad
The budget session of the Telangana Legislative Assembly and Council will commence on February 3 at 12.10 pm. There is a possibility of the government introducing the budget on the first day of the Assembly and Council session.
Information has been sent regarding this to MLAs and MLCs of the Assembly and Council respectively. However, there are rumours in political circles that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao may go for early elections and so KCR is advancing the commencement date of the budget session from March to February.
Telangana Governor Dr Tamilisai Sounderarajan may not be given a chance to deliver her budget speech this time too.
The Secretary of the State Legislature, V. Narasimha Charyulu, released the budget session of the year 2023 on Saturday stating that “the fourth meeting of the Eighth Session of the Second Telangana Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council will commence at 12.10 pm on Friday, February 3, 2023.”
Technically, there is no need for the government to invite Dr Tamilisai Sounderarajan to address the joint session as per budget session tradition. The same happened during the last budget session and it is going to repeat again this year too.
But the Governor has to clear seven Bills. They are The Azamabad Industrial Area (Termination And Regulation of Leases) (Amendment) Bill, 2022, The Telangana Municipal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022, The Telangana Public Employment (Regulation of Age of Superannuation) (Amendment) Bill, 2022, The University of Forestry Telangana Bill, 2022, The Telangana Universities Common Recruitment Board Bill, 2022, The Telangana Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Bill, 2022, and The Telangana State Private Universities (Establishment And Regulation) (Amendment) Bill, 2022.
Experts said the Bills will lapse if the government dissolves the Assembly after the Budget session.
CM reviews proposals
Chief Minister KCR reviewed proposals for Telangana Budget 2023-24. Finance Minister Harish Rao and finance department officials attended the meeting. The budget session will start on February 3. The State budget for the financial year 2023-24 would involve an outlay of Rs 2.85 lakh crore to Rs 3 lakh crore. BRS MP Badugula Lingaiah Yadav said, “It is estimated that government expenditure in 2022-23 has crossed Rs 2 lakh crore. There are still two months left in this financial year. Telangana may not have met its budget outlay of 2022-23 of Rs 2.56 lakh crore.
It may be seeing a shortfall of Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 crore. The Budget outlay for 2022-23 was Rs 2.56 lakh crore. The state has reportedly seen a 20 per cent increase in SOTR. The overall expenditure has reportedly crossed Rs 2 lakh crore and is expected to be more than Rs 2.15 lakh crore in the next two months.
The Centre will present its annual budget on February 1. There are only two calculations to be done regarding the state. How much will the state get as per FRBM? What is the devolution share of states in Central taxes? Officials will estimate funds coming to the state when the Centre presents its budget on February 1. It is reported that the government intends to complete the exercise this week and present the state budget within a few days after the Central budget is presented.
Actually the state budget is presented in the first week of March. Sources said that KCR has been focusing seriously on national politics and has decided to increase his national initiatives. Sources said that the Telangana budget will be advanced for the same.
“This time the budget is expected to cross Rs 3 lakh crore. The government has already spent Rs 2 lakh crore in the last budget. Even if the Centre imposes restrictions, Telangana will continue on the path of progress. The per capita income has doubled after the state’s formation. BJP leaders are unable to digest TS’ development. It is not talking about the funds that should have come to Telangana from the Centre,” BRS MP B. Lingaiah Yadav said.
