Delhi Assembly Budget session begins Monday, to be live streamed on Facebook

The five-day Budget session will begin with the address of Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal. In view of the likely implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST), no new tax proposals may be proposed in the budget by finance minister Manish Sisodia

The five-day budget session of Delhi assembly will begin on Monday, with lieutenant governor Anil Baijal giving his inaugural address to the legislators.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal with his deputy and finance minister Manish Sisodia. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)

The session would also usher in a new beginning, with the Delhi assembly streaming the entire proceedings live on social networking site Facebook. The assembly currently provides live streaming of the proceedings to interested news channels through a three-camera set-up, besides webcasting the proceedings through its official website.

In a departure from the past, the government is likely to present the budget at 12 noon on Wednesday. Till last year, the budget used to be presented in the second half post tea break.

Read: ‘Jung’ over: Delhi L-G Baijal clears third major AAP govt proposal in a month

This will be the first such address by Baijal in the assembly after taking over from Najeeb Jung, in which he will outline the broader priorities of the Delhi government even as the opposition is planning to corner the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government for having ‘failed’ in delivering on programmes announced in previous two budgets.

This is the third full budget of AAP government, but this comes ahead of the municipal elections. Similar to the previous two, sources said, the focus of the budget is likely to remain on education and health sector, which are likely to get a bulk of the allocation.

The government, however, is unlikely to come up with new tax proposals in the wake of the implementation of the goods and services tax, which will overhaul the indirect tax regime in the country.

“The first day of the session would end with the L-G’s address. After a discussion on vote of thanks the next day, budget 2017 is likely to be tabled in the House on March 8. Unlike previous years, the timing of the budget presentation is being changed this year. It would be tabled at 12 noon in the House,” an official said.

Leader of opposition Vijender Gupta said that the third budget, which is being called ‘outcome’ budget, will prove to be a ‘castle in the air as talking big and doing nothing has become the AAP government”.

Read: Delhi to get its budget in March, education to be priority for AAP govt

“AAP government is promising to present a comprehensive outcome budget this year with a timeline for every scheme. It may sound attractive, but experience shows that the government is in the habit of painting a rosy picture without the backing of a realistic framework. It has miserably failed when it comes to implementation of dream schemes and projects,” Gupta said.

The Rohini legislator also accused the AAP government of doing away with giving the statutory notice of 14 days for calling the session to “suit its political and administrative convenience”.

“It is against the rules and convention of the Assembly. Calling the session at such a short notice deprives the opposition of its opportunity to raise questions about functioning of the government and highlighting public grievances,” said Gupta, even as sources said the session is unlikely to have any question hour.