Gujarat Assembly session begins today, Nitin Patel to unveil modified budget

Deputy chief minister and finance minister Nitin Patel will be presenting a modified budget for the year 2019-20 on Tuesday during the fourth session of the 14th Gujarat Legislative Assembly.

The session which will last till July 25 will have 16 working days.

With the implementation of GST, no new taxes are likely to be imposed. Although those in the know said announcements related to farmers particularly small and medium one are expected in the budget.

There is also a likelihood of announcement of schemes aimed towards skill development, water management and for the benefit of disabled.

Following the fire incident, the budget is likely to see announcement about better fire safety norms particularly for schools. A hike in allocation for housing schemes for the schedule caste is also on the anvil.

Eleven bills will be presented during the assembly session including amendments to the Disturbed Areas Act.

It should be noted that Patel had earlier in February presented a budget which was a vote on account for the first four months of the financial year before the Lok Sabha polls. In that, the minister had sought approval of the Legislative Assembly for a Rs 64,255 crore interim budget and had made a series of announcements for the poor and the middle classes. It should be noted that the overall budget size during the vote on account for the financial year 2019-20 was pegged at Rs 1,91,817 crore.

Meanwhile, the Congress said that the government was not giving enough time to MLAs to make representations and ask questions. Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani said that the work is being wrapped up in 20 sittings during the 16 days which is not enough to address the various concerns that representatives want to raise on behalf of the people. "We need discussions of starred questions and we plan to ask at least 3000 questions during the session. We had invited questions from people that they wanted to be presented in the house," Dhanani said. He added that as of now they have got a notice of just three bills that will be moved while they are awaiting the same for the other five.

Earlier Dhanani and Congress whip Ashwin Kotwal had taken part in a business advisory committee meeting chaired by chief minister Vijay Rupani. Kotwal had later told reporters that the demands of the tribals were kept at the end of the meeting. He also said that several demands of the tribals also did not see adequate discussion in the house. 490 cops have been pressed into security duty for the assembly session particularly in view of the Congress' farmers rally that is likely to reach Gandhinagar on Tuesday.