Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presents Rs 1.42 lakh crore J&K budget in Lok Sabha

Opposition members objected to the government move to present the J&K Budget and discuss it in the House on the same day, contending that members will not get adequate time to study the proposals.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday presented a Rs 1.42-lakh-crore budget for Jammu and Kashmir for the year 2022-23 in Lok Sabha, amid opposition accusations that the government was rushing the proposals through Parliament.

Sitharaman also presented the supplementary demands for the year 2021-22 totalling Rs 18,860.32 crore for the Union Territory and moved a motion seeking suspension of certain rules to allow the House to take up the discussion on the same day.

Opposition members objected to the government move to present the J&K Budget and discuss it in the House on the same day, contending that members will not get adequate time to study the proposals.

Congress member Manish Tewari and RSP member N K Premachandran objected to the motion moved by Sitharaman, alleging it was in violation of the rules of procedure of the House.

“Some rules are beyond the amending powers of the House,” Tewari, a Congress member from Anandpur Sahib, said.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal said the discussion will take place after two hours.

Rajendra Agarwal, who was in the Chair, said the business for the day was approved by Speaker Om Birla during the Business Advisory Committee meeting.

Premachandran, the member from Kollam, said the minister had also sought a discussion on the budget proposals and the supplementary demand for grants together, which would go against the rules.

Tewari and Premachandran sought a ruling from the Speaker Om Birla on the issue.

As the House re-assembled in the post-lunch session, Sitharaman said the then UPA government had presented and discussed the Budget for NCT of Delhi in 2014 on the same day.

“That time the Chair allowed it, and this time also the Chair may kindly allow, it is my appeal,” Sitharaman said.

BJD member Bhratruhari Mahtab, who was in the chair, noted the Speaker had rejected the contention of Tewari and Premachandran, saying that the supplementary demands for grants for J&K presented in Lok Sabha were for the 2021-22 and could be taken up together with the Budget for 2022-23.

Mahtab said the Speaker had also mentioned that it was not for the first time that budget for a state had been presented as discussed on the same day.