J&K Finance Dept propose Rs 1 lakh cr budget

All eyes on UT’s first full-fledged budget

All eyes on UT’s first full-fledged budget

 Srinagar, Feb 02 (KNS): All eyes are on the first ever full-fledged budget for Union Territory Jammu and Kashmir and is expected to be passed by the Parliament in this week.

 
Source told KNS that J&K Finance Department has proposed a budget of over Rs one lakh crore for the new Union Territory.
 
“In absence of elected government in UT, the Budget has to be approved by the Parliament,” they said.
 
 “The budget will be presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and has to be passed by both houses of Parliament,” an official said.
 
This is the first ever full-fledged budget of the new Union Territory to be passed by Parliament.
 
Sitharaman also presented Centre’s budget in Parliament on Saturday.
 
She said Centre has proposed allocation of Rs 30,757 crore for Jammu and Kashmir, and Rs 5,958 crore for Ladakh for fiscal 2020-21. This is the first time that Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh are allocated separate funds since the two were carved out erstwhile state and given the status of Union Territories.
 
Last year, State Administration Council headed by the then Governor Satya Pal Malik had approved Rs 88,911 crore for Jammu and Kashmir.
 
Jammu and Kashmir had adopted the practice of passing the budget in January in order to give ample time to head of departments, district development commissioners and other officials to ensure optimum utilization of financial resources. 
 
With reorganization of state of J&K into two UTs of J&K and Ladakh, the administration had to divide the budget for 2019-20 approved by the State Administrative Council for erstwhile state of J&K into parts. First part was for first 8 months i.e. upto October 31 during this period J&K remained a single state and other post bifurcation of the state into two UTs.
 
According to J&K Re-organization Act 2019 “Where the Legislative Assembly is dissolved, or its functioning as such Assembly remains suspended, on account of an order under section 73, it shall be competent for the President to authorize, when the House of the People is not in session, expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir pending the sanction of such expenditure by Parliament.”
 
When elections are held in the Union Territory, its budget will be presented and approved by the Assembly.
 
The Union Territory of Ladakh hasn’t been granted the Legislature and it will continue to get budgetary allocations from the central government after the Parliament approval UT without Legislature (KNS)

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