Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Assembly budget session from tomorrow

Amaravati: A four-day budget session of Andhra Pradesh Assembly scheduled to commence from June 16 will be a different session thanks to Covid-19.

The Assembly and Council premises will be free from general public and visitors. Legislators, who are of the age of 60 and above, have been given an option to stay at home. They can attend the proceedings if they so desire but there would be no compulsion and no whip will be applicable to them.

Governor Biswabhushan Harichandan will address the joint session through video-conference from Raj Bhavan in Vijayawada. The most important business before the assembly is to pass the budget for the next nine months and elect MPs for Rajya Sabha on June 19. The general expectation is that the budget estimates for 2020-21 would be higher by 20 per cent as compared to 2019-20.

However, a glimpse at all the past budgets indicates that there has been a fall in expenditure though the projections have been increasing. With revenue taking a nosedive due to lockdown, it remains to be seen how the budget estimates would be revised. Though the revenue this month has been a little better as compared to previous months, the overall situation is gloomy which is a national phenomena. The Assembly secretariat has issued guidelines to all the members to maintain social distance.

However, inside the house, maintaining distance between member and member may not be possible. It also remains to be seen as to whether the members will follow the WHO protocols like hand sanitising and wearing of masks from the time they leave the house till they return.