Assam Assembly Passes Budget by Voice Vote

The Assam Assembly passed Rs 566 crore deficit budget for the financial year 2021-22 by voice vote on Friday.

The House also passed the Assam Appropriation (No. 1) Bill, 2021, to clear decks for the state government to withdraw Rs 107556.29 crore under the budget from the state's consolidated fund for defraying charges up to March 31, 2022.

Finance Minister Ajanta Neog presented the budget on July 16.

In a brief discussion during the introduction and consideration of the Appropriation Bill, Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia said there is a concern over the implementation of laws enacted by the legislature.

The Congress leader referred to various laws for scientific disposal of waste, that he claimed were not being implemented properly.

Three more Congress MLAs, Bharat Narah, Rakibul Hussain and Sherman Ali Ahmed, also placed their concerns about various departments during the discussion.

Another Opposition MLA, Aminul Islam, urged the finance minister to enable the legislators to sanction money for certain developmental works in their constituencies without having to take approval from the departments.

Responding to the discussion, Neog said, My responsibility is to allocate the money. Our ministers are here and they have taken note of the issues raised by the Opposition members.

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