Kerala Budget Session begins today

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The fourth session of the 14th legislative assembly that will see the presentation of the first full-fledged budget by the Pinarayi Vijayan government will begin on Thursday.
The 15-day session, apart from the presentation of the budget, will see the assembly taking up two ordinances -- the Kerala State Minority Commission amendment and Madras Hindu Religious Act amendment -- to be made into bills.The budget will be presented on March 3.
The session has earmarked one day for the governor's policy declaration speech, four days for government business, and three days each for discussion on the budget as well as seeking thanks for governor's motion. One day each has been earmarked for supplementary demands for grants and for vote-on-account. The session will come to a close on March 16.
Announcing the schedule, Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan said the assembly was originally planned to be convened in such a way that even the detailed discussions on grants for individuals departments were to be completed in March itself, but some unprecedented financial policy changes of the Centre has forced the government to delay it. A session will be convened for this purpose in mid-April and the business will be completed by end of May.
As part of the 60th anniversary celebrations of the legislative assembly, the legislature secretariat will organize a lecture series beginning with one by CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury on March 7, after the day's session.
The series will figure personalities like Congress leader and eminent lawyer Kapil Sibal, Union finance minister Arun Jaitley and Congress leader Jairam Ramesh.
A student scholarship to promote democratic values and interest in democracy among the high school students in the state will be launched by the legislature secretariat. The selection for the scholarships will be based on the students' performance in an assessment to be conducted by the Centre for Parliamentary Studies.