Mubashir Aalam Wani
Srinagar, Feb 14: After a gap of seven years, Jammu & Kashmir’s annual budget will be presented in the Legislative Assembly on March 7. According to the tentative calendar issued by the Legislative Assembly secretariat, the budget for the Union Territory for 2025-26 will be presented in the Assembly on March 7 during the session commencing from March 3 and culminating on April 11.
The annual financial statement of expenditure for 2025-26 and the supplementary statement of expenditure for 2024-25 will be presented in the House on March 7. This will be the first time in seven years that the budget of J&K will be presented in the Assembly. Following the imposition of central rule, the budget for successive financial years was presented in the Parliament.
The budget session will have a total of 22 sittings. According to the calendar, the session will commence on March 3 with the LG’s address to the House. There will be discussions on the LG’s address on March 4, 5, and 6, concluding with the Chief Minister’s reply on March 6.
As per the calendar, there will be general discussions on the budget on March 8, 10, and 11. The Finance Minister, who is also the Chief Minister, will conclude the general discussion on the budget on March 11 with his reply.
According to the timetable worked out by the LA secretariat, demands for grants will be discussed on March 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, and 24. After the demands for grants, the budget will be approved on March 25, with the passage of Appropriation Bills. The Legislative Assembly will go on recess for 12 days after the budget is approved.
The second part of the budget session will begin on March 7, which has been earmarked for private members’ resolutions. The House will take up private member bills on March 8 and private member resolutions again on March 9. As per the calendar, government business will be taken up on March 11.
