: The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet onFriday gave its nod for promulgating an ordinance on the Vote-on-Account to meet the state's ways and means till the end of June in the 2020-21 financial year beginning April 1.The government decided to bring in an ordinance as the Budget session of the state Legislature could not be conducted in view of the ongoing nation-wide lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus.The Vote-on-Account could be around Rs 70,000 crore to meet the government revenue and capital expenditure for the first three months of the fiscal year, official sources said.Information and Public Relations Minister Perni Venkataramaiah (Nani) told reporters after the Cabinet meeting that the exact quantum of Vote-on-Account budget would be known after the ordinance was promulgated by the Governor."Since it is not possible to convene the budget session due to the pandemic, the government is bringing-in the ordinance," the Minister said.Though normally the Budget session of AP Legislature is held from the first week of March to pass the Finance Bill, the government did not convene the meeting this time because of the planned elections to the rural and urban local bodies.In the normal course, the government wanted to hold a brief four-day session of the Legislature towards the month end after the elections ended but the Covid-19 outbreak and the consequent lockdown threw the plans awry.
