PANAJI
Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar said that the Economic Survey would not be tabled during this session of the Goa Legislative Assembly even though it meant breaking with tradition of placing the Survey a day ahead of the Budget.
“The Economic Survey will be tabled in next session of the Assembly. There is no compulsion that it be tabled before the Budget, even though it has been a practice over the last many years to table the report,” Parsekar said.
The move has not gone well with Opposition legislators including Vijai Sardesai saying that the government has something to hide.
“It is a tradition to present the Economic Survey before the annual Budget. I have not found a break from this tradition. The Budget is to be prepared under the background of the State of the economy, not in vacuum. The survey is also a tool for economists and analysts to critically examine the Budget proposals,” Sardesai said.
“Failure to present shows govt wants to hide the State of economy. The bad state of finances and the growing unproductive spending is sought to be pushed under the carpet. I fail to understand the criteria finance minister is going to adopt in the revenue and expenditure proposals without the Economic Survey,” he added suggesting that the “CAG had raised red flags on government financial handling.”
Sources in the department of statistics said that the Budget will be tabled either in the monsoon or winter sessions of the Assembly including data up to March 31.
