Ordinance promulgated for Vote on Account in AP

Amaravati: The Andhra Pradesh Appropriation (Vote-on-Account) Ordinance, 2020, issued on Saturday, which was passed in the Friday's cabinet meeting. After the Ordinance was cleared by the Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan, the Law Department released a Government Order.

With this ordinance, the AP government could spend the money from the public exchequer without the approval of the Assembly. Since the Budget session could not be conducted due spread of Coronavirus and ongoing lockdown.

Under the Article 348 (3) of the Constitution of India, the State government promulgated the Ordinance. The Law department directed concerned authorities to publish the Ordinance in the AP Gazette with effect from March 28. The Assembly has to pass the Ordinance in the next six months and appropriate the allocations and spent amount.

On the other hand, the leader of opposition N Chandrababu Naidu also did not raise any objections on the Ordinance. In fact, he observed that conducting Assembly Budget Session during the lockdown period would be historical blunder.