Kolkata, July 20 (IANS) The extended Budget Session of the West Bengal Assembly will start from Monday for discussions on the departmental budgets. The session will continue till July 25.
The extended session will begin with the ‘mentions phase’, where different legislators will briefly bring urgent local issues, constituency concerns or matters of public importance to the attention of the House.
In the concluding part of the first half and the entire second half of the extended session on Monday, there will be discussions on budget allocations for the state health, panchayat affairs, rural development and transport departments.
The departmental ministers will participate in the discussions and reply to the queries and concerns raised by the legislators during the course of the discussions.
There will be discussions on budgetary allotments for 13 state government departments during the entire session.
An insider from the Assembly secretariat said that the maximum time has been allocated for discussion on the budgetary allocations for the state home department. A total of three hours have been allotted for discussions on the budgetary allocation for the state home department on July 22, and the Chief Minister, Suvendu Adhikari, will give the final reply.
“During the last 15 years of the Trinamool Congress regime from 2021 to 2026, instances of discussions on departmental budgetary allocations were rare. In most cases, the proposals on departmental budgetary allocations, especially those departments directly controlled by the previous Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, were guillotined without being discussed on the floor of the House. But the new government wants to revive the system of discussions on departmental allocations with special focus on departments whose functional areas involve a larger public interest. The new government wants absolute transparency in the system so that Opposition legislators, too, can give their suggestions in the matter,” said a member of the state Cabinet who did not wish to be named.
A budget “guillotine” is a parliamentary procedure where a legislature fast-tracks the approval of public spending by putting all remaining ministry-wise Demands for Grants to a single vote without further debate.
Although this mechanism is utilised when time is scarce and prevents government shutdowns by ensuring fiscal deadlines are met, the misuse of this provision has often attracted scathing criticisms and been described as a tacit approach by the ruling dispensation to avoid discussions on the floor of the House.
Recently, state finance minister, Swapan Dasgupta, a journalist-turned-politician, announced that henceforth the new state government will place the reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India on the floor of the West Bengal Assembly, an issue that was totally ignored during the previous Mamata Banerjee-led regime.
–IANS
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