In a move that can be called a first of its kind, Uttarakhand chief minister Vijay Bahuguna has invited suggestions from the common people for the proposed budget which is to be presented in the state assembly by the end of this month.
“The scheme which you consider was necessary and in public interest for the development of your area, please send the suggestion straight to me so that there should be necessary action,” Bahuguna said in an appeal through the local media.
The move to invite suggestions from the people came as a surprise, given that there is hardly a fortnight left for the presentation of budget for which the Assembly session is being convened in the last week of May. “For getting good response, we need time. But unfortunately we don’t have much time left,” lamented a top government official.
Nevertheless, the official acknowledged that it was for the first time in the 2000-formed hill state that a chief minister has invited such suggestions from the people . “We are making efforts to incorporate some new schemes in the budget on the basis of the suggestions,” he added.
However, the move is also being seen as an attempt by the chief minister to take the process of presentation of budget in his own hands when actually the finance portfolio is being held by Indira Hridayesh, who is close to the CM’s opposing camp having loyalty to union minister Harish Rawat. “The presentation of budget is a team effort and both the chief minister and the finance minister are working closely,” said the official.
But the big worry before Bahuguna is how to generate separate budgetary provisions for giving doles to unemployed youths of the state as being promised by Congress in the election manifesto in the face of tight financial position. Bahuguna has already gone on record to admit that the “financial sickness” has plagued Uttarakhand.
