PANAJI
The August 10 panchayat elections, necessitated by an order of the Bombay High Court, may prompt the Pramod Sawant government to curtail the month-long Monsoon session of the Goa legislative assembly which has been summoned to convene on July 11.
Although legally and technically there is no bar on the conduct of legislative business, Legislature Secretariat sources said discussions related to tweaking the monsoon session's schedule are on.
The issue of the Code of Conduct coming into force for the panchayat elections posing some impediments for transacting certain government business is being cited as the reason, the sources added.
The Goa legislative assembly has already been summoned and will meet from July 11 to August 12 for the Monsoon session for 24 working days.
It is slated to take up the motion of thanks to the Governor's Address delivered during the two-day session held in March, discuss and pass demands for grants of individual departments as well as the overall budget, besides taking up some private member's resolutions and bills.
Passage of the budget is mandatory as the government had in the March session secured a vote on account for four months to authorise the appropriation of Rs 10,203.5 crore from and out of the State's Consolidated Fund and will have to seek the Legislature's sanction to defray further expenditure of the State.
The plan to have the month-long Monsoon session from July 11 to August 12 was finalised by the government based on the government's decision to defer the panchayat polls and hold it in September.
However, the High Court order passed last week forcing the government to notify a date for the panchayat elections and complete it within 45 days, has cast a dark shadow on the Monsoon session of the House, the legislature department sources said.
The government may move the proposal to tweak the schedule of the monsoon session through the Business Advisory Committee of the House which is chaired by Speaker Ramesh Tawardkar.
Apart from Tawardkar, other members of the BAC include Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, the Deputy Speaker (vacant), Power Minister Ramkrishna Sudin Dhavalikar, Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas, Goa Forward Party's (GFP) Vijai Sardesai and Revolutionary Goans Party's (RGP) Viresh Borkar.
