Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir government is gearing up its first legislative session on the Budget of the Union Territory (UT) to be held in the first week of March in Jammu as the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has approved the proposal of the cabinet.
The 21-day session will likely begin from March 3 and chief minister Omar Abdullah will table the budget for the financial year 2025-2026. Omar also holds the finance minister portfolio in the five member cabinet whose total member strength should be nine as per the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2019.
The JK cabinet chaired by Omar Abdullah on January 21 had proposed to hold the session from the first week of March. Official sources told ETV Bharat the proposal which was sent by cabinet to the LG for his approval has been given a go ahead by Sinha and the session will be convened in the first week of March.
Sources said the LG has summoned the session from March 3 and the assembly secretary will notify the session after consultations with the speaker Rahim Rather who will discuss its schedule and duration.
This will be the first budget to be presented by an elected government after abrogation of Article 370. And the second session of the legislature. Since 2019 the budget of the JK was tabled in Lok Sabha by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. She had tabled six consecutive budgets for JK in the parliament. The last budget for JK was presented by former finance minister Haseeb Drabu in August 2018 when PDP-BJP were in a coalition government.
The first four days introductory session if the elected government was held from November 4-8 last year in Srinagar.
Traders and businessmen whose expectations from the elected government have risen after the end of six years of President's Rule, however, said the government is yet to consult Kashmir's stakeholders for their suggestions for the budget.
Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), the biggest trade body in the Valley, said it has not received any invitation or information from the government about budget consultations.
“We have done some homework about demands to be put forth before the government for including them in the budget,” KCCI president Javaid Tenga told ETV Bharat.
Abrar Khan, chairman Kashmir Traders and Manufactures Federation (KTMF) said the government is yet to hold any meeting or consultation about the budget.
“Traders expect a sufficient allocation in budget for exports, cottage industry, agriculture and strengthening of smaller industries,” Khan told ETV Bharat.
Sheikh Feroz Ahmad, who operates a tour and travel company for pilgrimage to Mecca for Hajj and Umrah, said that the decline in Hajj pilgrimage applicants from Jammu and Kashmir is an indicator of economic situation in the UT.
"11,000 would go to Hajj every year. This year, only 3800 are Muslims going for the Hajj. People are hardly managing their daily lives. The Jammu and Kashmir government must consider this situation in mind and frame the budget accordingly," Feroz, President Jammu and Kashmir Association Hajj and Umrah Companies, said.
Bashir Ahmad Bashir, President Kashmiri Valley Fruit Growers cum Union, said the association has submitted a ten-point demand for promotion of horticulture industry.
“From implementation of crop insurance scheme in horticulture and agriculture sectors, reintroduction of Market Insurance Scheme (MIS), Establishment of separate horticulture estate on the analogy of Industrial Estate of J&K (UT), Exemption of GST on Cardboard Cartons/plastic Trays/Baskets/Waste paper and Insecticides, Pesticides and Fertilizers, Exemption of K.C.C Loan etc,” Bashir told ETV Bharat.
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