the goan I network
PANAJI
Goa Governor Mridula Sinha will address the Goa legislative assembly marking the commencement of a brief 3-day budget session at 11.30 am on Tuesday.
Sinha is expected to highlight the ‘achievements’ of the Manohar Parrikar-led coalition government over the last one year which was marked by the prolonged absence from office and public view of the Chief Minister who has been battling advanced pancreatic cancer since February last. The governor’s address will also dwell on some of the thrust areas of development and governance which the State government proposes to pursue over the next financial year.
Parrikar is slated to present the State budget for 2019-20 on Wednesday, including a vote-on-account for the first five months. With Lok Sabha polls due before May, the budget is expected to include populist measures including a financial package for the mining dependents, a crucial support base of the ruling BJP, who have been on an agitation demanding resumption of operations for months.
The Opposition Congress, meanwhile has launched a scathing attack on the government for cutting short the budget session for a second
year in a row.
The State Assembly’s budget session was cut short last year after Parrikar’s sudden diagnosis in February sent the government in a tizzy.
Opposition Leader Chandrakant (Babu) Kavlekar has termed the government’s decision to cut short the session to just three days a farce.
Kavlekar said no business of note will be transacted during the session as day one will be hogged by the Governor’s address and on day two, there will be Question Hour and presentation of the budget.
“There will be no time for any meaningful discussion,” Kavlekar said.
The Opposition Leader claimed that he forcefully made a case for extension of the budget session at the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) but the government side remained adamant.
The Assembly, for the first time in its history, functioned only for 16 days in 2018, Kavlekar said. He has also voiced his suspicion that the government which is out of control of the political going-ons in the ruling coalition, may dissolve the Assembly.
