NAVVNEET DUBEY
Jammu: Ahead of the upcoming budget session starting from February 2, the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) of the Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Assembly is set to meet tomorrow afternoon to discuss legislative business.
The 27-day session will commence on February 2 with an address of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha. The Omar Abdullah-led government will present its second budget on February 6. This fifth session of the Assembly will conclude on April 4.
The BAC, comprising MLAs from the National Conference, Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress, Peoples Democratic Party, Peoples Conference, and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), is scheduled to meet tomorrow at 3 PM under the chairmanship of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly in his office chamber.
Those invited to the meeting include Leader of Opposition Sunil Kumar Sharma (BJP), Ali Muhammad Sagar (NC), Mubarak Gul (NC), Muhammad Yousuf Tarigami (CPI-M), Ghulam Ahmad Mir (Congress), Sajad Gani Lone (PC), Mir Muhammad Fayaz (PDP), and Choudhary Muhammad Akram (Independent), as per the meeting notice.
The Business Advisory Committee plays a key role in advising the Speaker on the scheduling of House business and allocation of time for legislative proceedings during Assembly sessions.
The Committee, on its own initiative, may also recommend to the Government that particular subjects be brought forward for discussion in the House and suggest the allocation of time for such discussions.
Couple of days back, speaker AR Rather said that the provisional calendar will be placed before the Business Advisory Committee to be finalised.
“My message to all legislators is to make proper use of the available time to raise public issues. People have high hopes and expect their concerns to be addressed. We should not waste the session on irrelevant matters; instead, we must remain focused on public issues and work sincerely towards finding solutions to their issues,” the speaker had said.
The budget session of the Jammu & Kashmir Assembly, beginning on February 2, is expected to be stormy, with opposition parties-especially the BJP-set to corner the government on a gamut of issues ranging from the regularisation of daily wagers to pre-election matters.
The session will be held in three phases, the first before the start of Ramzan and the remaining two after Eid-ul-Fitr in March and April. Ramzan is expected to begin on February 18 or 19, depending on the sighting of the moon.
On the other hand, Kashmir’s small but divided opposition comprising PDP, PC and AIP may also raise issues such as reservation. All political parties are expected to call their legislature party meetings on February 1 in Jammu to chalk out strategies for the upcoming session.
