AP Assembly session put off to Sept

Vijayawada: It’s now official; the budget session of Andhra Pradesh Assembly will be postponed to September. This has become necessary as the state needs to first clearly understand the financial mess it had inherited as legacy from the previous government and find measures to put the state economy back on track.

To what extent it can do so and how to go about depends a lot on the kind of allocations the Centre would make for the state in various sectors in the Union Budget to be presented on July 23. In addition, the state government had already put certain proposals before the Centre particularly with regard to the Polavaram project and to extend helping hand in development of the Amaravati capital region and other issues. A clear picture on the financial roadmap it needs to work out would emerge only after the Union Budget is presented in the Parliament. Meanwhile, the state government will also get an opportunity to assess the quantum of problems it needs to address.

In the backdrop of this, the state government has for the present decided to hold a brief five-day session from July 22 which would approve the ordinance extending the life of the vote-on-account budget till September.

Meanwhile, the state cabinet would meet on July 16 to discuss and give approval to the ordinance on promulgating ordinance on vote-on-account budget. The cabinet is also likely to discuss the pending promises made during elections, including free bus travel for women as part of the super six schemes.