By IANS,
Jammu : The National Conference (NC)-Congress coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir will have to go for vote-on-account for three months rather than a full-fledged annual budget during the legislative session this month.
Finance ministry officials told IANS that the formal announcement would be made shortly, as there was little time to prepare the full budget.
“The government got into working mode only in mid-January, and secondly, the Model Code of Conduct that is due to come into effect by the first week of March will hamper the process of preparing a full budget.”
The officials said Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather has begun discussions with representatives of various political parties on this issue.
In an interview to IANS after assuming office Jan 13, Rather noted that the budgetary exercise against the backdrop of “financial mismanagement of the past” was a big challenge for him.
“I prefer a full-fledged budget to vote-on-account. But we are left with very little time and it is a Himalayan task,” he said in the interview.
According to convention, the state budget is presented by February-end but former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad advanced it to January “to gain time.”