Odisha Budget Session to Resume on August 20: Assembly Speaker Surama Padhy

Odisha Assembly Speaker Surama Padhy announced on Monday that the second phase of the state’s budget session will commence on August 20 and continue until September 13. The session will primarily focus on discussing the demands and allocations in the state budget.

“The budget session will resume from tomorrow and will run until September 13. The main agenda will be discussions on the budget demands. Out of 147 MLAs, 84 are new, marking the beginning of their legislative careers, while many others have considerable experience,” Speaker Padhy stated.

She also highlighted the absence of the opposition during an orientation program for new legislators, which was attended by Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, who spoke positively about Odisha’s parliamentary traditions.

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, who also holds the finance portfolio, presented the state’s ₹2.65 lakh crore budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year on July 25. The current budget reflects a nearly 15% increase over the previous year’s estimate of ₹2.30 lakh crore.

In his budget presentation, Majhi proposed allocating ₹33,919 crore towards agriculture, representing a 36% increase from the previous year’s budget. The budget breakdown includes ₹1.55 lakh crore for program expenditure, ₹97,725 crore for administrative expenditure, and ₹3,900 crore for disaster risk management funds.

The BJP hailed the budget as historic and development-oriented, while former Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik criticized it as a mere rebranding of existing schemes. Patnaik, in a post on X, congratulated the new government on its first budget but sarcastically noted that over 80% of the schemes were simply renamed versions of those implemented by his government.

Patnaik also claimed that the BJP-led government has changed the names of 45 schemes, mocking their promise of being a “game changer” but ending up as a “name changer.” He added, “This budget reiterates the robustness, pro-people, and progressive nature of schemes designed and implemented by the BJD government. The remaining 20% allocation is what they will use to fulfill their manifesto promises.”

The upcoming session is expected to witness intense debates on these issues as the budget discussions unfold.