Itanagar: The Arunachal Pradesh Assembly on Wednesday created a record of sorts by passing the Rs 644.81 crore deficit Budget for the financial year 2022-23 without any discussion.
“It’s a kind of record that for the first time in the history of the State Assembly the Budget has been passed without discussion,” said the Leader of the House, Chief Minister Pema Khandu, while hailing the members for supporting the Budget and passing it.
Although Speaker Pasang Dorjee Sona asked the members to participate, none of them did and the budget was passed by voice vote.
“Very efficient Government! Gave the chance, no one participated in the Budget discussion,” the Speaker was heard murmuring. However, realising the significance of the vital business, the Speaker allowed the discussion which continued till late evening.
“For the first time in the history of our State, our Annual Budget has crossed Rs 25,000 crore,” Khandu said while thanking the Speaker for allowing the discussion.
Reiterating his call for developing Arunachal with the spirit of teamwork, the Chief Minister assured the House that his government will start implementing from April 1 the Budget 2022-23 based on six building blocks – Governance reforms and prudent financial management, sustained investment in the health sector, continued investment in Human Capital, emphasis on Atma Nirbhar Arunachal, Synergy and Convergence, and environment protection and climate resilience.
Besides vowing 100 percent saturation, Khandu said he will keep on monitoring the Budget implementation. Even if the state saw lot of transformation particularly in connectivity sector during last seven years, Khandu informed that 980 villages in Arunachal were yet to be connected with roads, while exuding confidence that the Centre will approve the state’s proposals to connect all those unconnected villages under the ‘PM’s Development Initiative for Northeast’.
He further hoped that Arunachal’s northern border areas will benefit immensely under the ‘Vibrant Village Scheme’, announced in this year’s Union Budget. Arunachal shares a total of 1,350 km of border with Bhutan and Tibet (China). To enhance investment, the ‘Arunachal Infrastructure Finance Authority’ will start working, Khandu said, while adding that 365 important projects will be launched in this Golden Jubilee year of Arunachal Pradesh.
Deputy Chief Minister and Minister in-charge of Finance Chowna Mein said the Budget for FY 2022-23, which has an underlying philosophy of ‘No citizen be left behind’, has covered the entire gamut of developmental needs of our state from the urbanised Capital Complex to the remotest border areas. It covers the entire population base with special focus on youth and women, he said.
On the fiscal front, Mein said, “In coming days, our financial position will be far better provided the ongoing tension between Russia and Ukraine does not affect the state economy.”
