Bhubaneswar: The Budget Session of the Odisha Legislative Assembly began on 5 January at 11 AM with the address of Governor Raghubar Das.
Odisha House begins its crucial session amid tight security in place.
Before beginning of the session, guard of honour has been given to the Governor at the Assembly premises. Speaker Pramila Mallick took the Governor to the Podium.
The Governor addressed his speech in Hindi language for nearly 1.58 hours, perhaps for the first time in the history of Odisha Assembly. During the Governor’s speech, the Congress Lawmakers staged a walkout stating that the Governor was reading misleading facts provided by the State Government.
The first day of the Budget session was adjourned after paying tributes to departed leaders including former Governor M M Rajendran, ex-MLAs Rasananda Sahu, Santosh Pradhan, Ramesh Jena, Nrushinghananda Brahma, Sushree Devi and Jayanarayan Mohanty. Discussion on Motion of Thanks on Governor’s address will be held on Tuesday.
The Session, which will continue till 13 February, will have five working days. Finance Minister Bikram Keshari Arukha will present the vote-on-account or interim budget for the first four months of 2024-25 fiscal on 8 February. The appropriation bill for the vote-on-account will be tabled on 9 February.
This will be the last session of the present Assembly before the State goes to polls, along with the Lok Sabha. Therefore, the Government would bring an interim budget in this session, an official said.
Meanwhile, a three-layer security arrangement has been made for the session. A total of 28 platoons of police force have been deployed in and around the Assembly for the session.
Personnel of special operation group (SOG), striking force, quick action team (QAT), two special tactical units, dog squad and fire brigade also deployed to ensure security, officials said.
CCTV cameras have been installed on the roads from the assembly to Lower PMG, Rabindra Mandap square and other connecting lanes to keep a watch on movement of people, the officials said.
Besides, five temporary police control rooms have been set up and check posts have been erected at two gates of the Assembly. The traffic movement on all five routes to the State Assembly also diverted during the session, a top cop said.
Opposition BJP and Congress have lined up issues to target the Governing BJD in the House during the session.
BJP would raise issues including non-implementation of central schemes like Ayushman Bharat in Odisha and State Government’s negligence towards tribals during the session, informed Opposition chief whip Mohan Majhi.
The Government has called a short-term session only to announce some schemes to woo the voters ahead of the twin polls in the State, he said, adding, many state schemes have been closed down after a few months.
Similarly, Congress Legislature Party leader Narasingha Mishra alleged that both Centre and State Government are playing politics over religion. “The BJD and BJP are two sides of one coin. We will raise this issue on the floor of the House,” he said.
Besides, the Congress party would raise issues including unemployment, lack of teachers in schools & colleges, deteriorated health system, funds spent in construction of the heritage corridor project around Puri temple, etc, he said.
On the other hand, Government Chief Whip Prasanta Muduli said the Treasury Bench is fully prepared to face all questions and issues to be raised by the opposition for the interest of the state and its people.
The opposition parties are needed to cooperate with the Treasury Bench for smooth transaction of businesses of the house, Shri Muduli appealed.
