Telangana's Vote on Account Budget will be presented in the State Assembly on February 22, the state government announced on Thursday. The Assembly session will commence on February 22 and the interim budget will be presented on the same day at 11:30 am.
According to a statement from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), the session will continue till February 25. The discussion on the budget will be held on February 22 while the Appropriation Bill will be adopted on the last day of the session.
However, ambiguity remains over who will present the budget as Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is yet to constitute a full cabinet, more than two months after his own swearing in ceremony. For this, he will need a Finance Minister or at least an interim Minister to present the state's finances in the Assembly.
KCR, as Rao is popularly known, took oath as the chief minister for a second term on December 13. Home Minister Mahmood Ali was the only minister to take oath with him.
Since then, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief has kept aspirants of ministerial berths guessing about the cabinet expansion.
With the latest announcement, observers hope that the cabinet would be announced and formed before February 22.
According to sources, the delay in the cabinet was because the TRS chief for his second term, wants a reorganized government with more departments under each ministry, so that seven or eight key ministers can run the state machinery effectively. However, there has been no official confirmation on this, as top TRS leadership remains tight-lipped about the developments.
Meanwhile, KCR asked the officials to formulate the Vote on Account Budget in such a way that it includes all the commitments made to the people, and maximum budgetary provision is made for the welfare of the people and agricultural development.
He held a review meeting with Chief Secretary S.K. Joshi, Finance Advisor G.R. Reddy, Principal Secretary Rama Krishna Rao, CMO Principal Secretary Narsing Rao and others.
IANS inputs