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Jammu: Omar chairs meet of alliance partners as budget session begins today
The process to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir has been delayed at the end of the central government, say Congress leader GA Mir and CPM leader MY Tarigami
As Jammu and Kashmir is preparing for the first budget session in seven years, chief minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday chaired a joint meeting of the alliance partners here and discussed various issues for the smooth functioning of the house. After the meeting, Congress leader GA Mir and CPM’s MY Tarigami said the central government should restore the statehood.
The 40-day budget session, having a total of 22 sittings, is scheduled to start on March 3 with the address of lieutenant governor.
This will be the first budget of the government after it assumed power in October last year. Abdullah, who is set to present the budget on March 7, had held the charge of home and general administrative department among others during his previous stint as the chief minister in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir from 2009 to 2014.
The previous five budgets were presented and passed by the parliament in the absence of the legislative assembly in J&K, while the then governor Satya Pal Malik led the state administrative council to pass the budget for 2019-2020 following the fall of the PDP-BJP government in June 2018.
The joint meeting, attended by Congress legislative party leader GA Mir and CPM MLA MY Tarigami among others, took place shortly after Abdullah presided over a separate legislature party meeting of the National Conference at his official residence here.
The Congress legislature party also met separately at Residency Road party headquarters before Mir joined the meeting convened by Abdullah. National Conference president Farooq Abdullah also attended the joint meeting.
“The budget session is happening after a long time and the people have high hopes with this government. We all have a responsibility to live up to the people’s expectations so that they can get relief,” Tarigami told reporters after the meeting. He said the legislators have an opportunity to raise public issues inside the House.
“The cabinet resolution on the restoration of statehood is before the central government which has also made repeated promises to the people of J&K on the issue. They should fulfil their promise by restoring the statehood,” he said.
National Conference chief whip Mubarak Gul said the party legislature party met under the chief minister for an hour, discussing the party strategy to counter the opposition charge in the assembly.
Congress legislature party leader GA Mir said people’s aspirations are linked with the budget session as earlier bureaucrats used to prepare the budget and the parliament was discussing it. He said the government has already passed a resolution in the last session held in Srinagar and so the delay in restoring statehood is from the BJP-led central government which has made repeated promises to the people of J&K on the subject.
“When the prime minister chaired the All Party Meeting of J&K leaders (in June 2021), we were all witness to his statement that reorganization will be followed by delimitation, elections and then restoration of statehood. The centre should have fulfilled its promise after the formation of the popular government in J&K,” he said.
