Chandigarh, Feb 21 (IANS) Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's government will present its Budget for financial year 2023-24 on March 10 as the Budget session of the 16th Punjab Assembly will be held from March 3 to March 24, it was announced on Tuesday.
This was decided at a Cabinet meeting chaired by the Chief Minister here.
A spokesperson for the Chief Minister's Office said the Cabinet authorised the Governor to convene the session, as per Article 174 of the Constitution.
As per the schedule, the budget session will commence on March 3 at 10 a.m. with Governor's address followed by obituary references at 2 p.m.
The motion of thanks and discussion on Governor's Address will take place on March 6, while the Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General for year 2021-22, presentation of supplementary grants for 2022-23 and Appropriation Bill on supplementary demands for grants for 2022-23 will be held on March 7, followed by legislative business.
Non-official business will be held on March 9 and Budget estimates for year 2023-24 will be presented before the House on March 10, followed by general discussion on the budget.
The general discussion on the Budget estimates for year 2023-24 will resume at 10 a.m. on March 11 till its conclusion and voting.
Non-official business will be conducted at 10 am on March 22, followed by the legislative business on March 24 after which the House will be adjourned sine-die.
The Cabinet also gave ex-post-facto approval to the officers committee constituted by the Finance Department to formulate the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the implementation of the old pension scheme in Punjab.
With a view to provide houses at affordable prices to the lower income group in the state, the Cabinet also gave green signal to notify the Affordable Colony Policy, 2023.
The Cabinet also gave nod to convert 101 temporary posts of District and Sessions Judge or Additional District and Sessions Judges into permanent posts to strengthen the judicial system.
Taking umbrage at the Union Minister's new plan on how the future of Chandigarh would be decided, Badal said: "It is not in the ambit of Shekhawat to take a decision on this matter. This is a closed chapter. The UT status of Chandigarh is purely temporary pending transfer to Punjab."
Mann said in another significant decision, the state government has now decided to appoint Chief Minister Field Officers as Nodal Officers for NRIs to ensure redressal of their grievances. He said that these officers will prove to be an ideal Nodal Officer for NRIs as they will be effectively able to coordinate across departments and districts, besides having a direct communication with the Chief Minister's Office.
The passengers were later identified as Moshin Khan Saifi and Asim. Saifi was supposed to travel from Delhi to Hyderabad by Vistara Flight, whereas Asim was supposed to travel from Delhi to Dubai by Air India Express flight.
The official said that at about 4 pm, CISF staff at Terminal-3 noticed suspicious activities of a passenger in the check-in area. The passenger was later identified as Misam Raza, who was about to fly to Dubai on a SpiceJet flight. Raza was then diverted to the random checking point for a thorough checking of his luggage.
The arrested accused have been identified as Vikas Bhadana, Paras Sood, Thachang Tungshanao, Avinash, Ram Basua and Abhislash Singh, the call centre manager. While the call centre and house owner has been identified as Sachin Taneja.
A SAD delegation led by its president Sukhbir Singh Badal met Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit and handed over a memorandum stating that the Chief Minister and the Excise Minister have violated the provisions of the Official Secrets Act by making official files of the state available to Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and MP Raghav Chadha, besides private persons.
