Odisha budget presented in Assembly

Odisha Channel Bureau Bhubaneswar, Feb 16: Odisha Finance Minister Pradip Amat presented a deficit budget of Rs.84,487.77 crore for the financial years 2014-15 in the State Assembly today.While the income is shown to be Rs.83,181.16 crore, the outgo is shown to be Rs.84,487.77 crore.Amat also presented budget for agriculture and allied sectors with a plan outlay of Rs.10,903.62 crore.The Finance Minister said that the total revenue expenditure is estimated at Rs.65,838.99 crore during the financial year 2015-16.The fiscal deficit is projected at Rs.10,400 crore which is 2.99 per cent of GSDP, he added.Mr.Amat’s budget speech, however, was disrupted by the legislators of opposition Congress who demanded introduction of Odia translation of different Bills being introduced in the House.Opposition legislators rushed to well and raised slogans as the Speaker allowed tabling of the Odisha Police Bill without the Odia version being provided to the legislators.Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra expressed concern over the State Government’s failure to provide Odia translations of the Bills despite a ruling by the Assembly Speaker to this effect last year.