SRINAGAR: Finance Minister of India Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to present a Vote-on-Account (VoA) for Jammu and Kashmir lasting six months during the last session of the 17th Lok Sabha, commencing on January 31.
The VoA for the country will be presented on February 1. However, Jammu and Kashmir, without a legislature for the past five and a half years, will likely see its VoA presented either the same day or the following day.
The session will not witness a full budget for Jammu and Kashmir; instead, a comprehensive budget is anticipated to be presented by the new government in the first session of the Parliament scheduled for June-July.
The 17th Lok Sabha’s last session concluded on February 9, with the Model Code of Conduct expected to be imposed in early March in preparation for the parliamentary polls scheduled for April-May. Jammu and Kashmir’s administration has been informed about the VoA presentation for six months, addressing the Union Territory’s financial concerns. For Ladakh, approval for grants will be sought from the Parliament.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration has conducted budget meetings with all departments to determine their requirements, engaging in several discussions with the Finance Ministry officials.
Despite the absence of a legislature in Jammu and Kashmir since 2018, the government has committed to following the Supreme Court’s September 30, 2024 deadline for conducting Assembly elections.
The administration aims for a budget of Rs 1.20 lakh crore for the financial year 2024-25, following a budget of Rs 1,18,500 crore for the current year (2023-24) and Rs 1,12,950 crore in the previous fiscal year (2022-23). Sitharaman had previously presented budgets for Jammu and Kashmir for 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24, with the last budget presented in the Assembly of the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir in 2018-19.
