JAMMU, APR 4: The Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly was adjourned sine die on Saturday, bringing to a close a budget session that stretched over 22 sittings and 110.6 hours across three months.
Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather, who adjourned the House as per Kashmir Convener stated that J&K recorded the second-highest number of budget sittings among states — behind only Gujarat, which held 23.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah presented the Union Territory’s Budget on February 6, the first full budget since J&K became a UT. The session, which began on February 2, saw detailed departmental grant discussions held in twin sittings each day till February 20. It resumed on March 27 after a five-week recess.
Speaker Rather informed the House that eight government bills were introduced and passed. Twenty-five papers were laid and one ordinance presented.
On private members’ business, 36 bills were pending from the previous session, while 39 new bills were received. Of the 72 bills listed, 24 were taken up and two were introduced.
The secretariat received 1,528 questions — 802 starred and 726 unstarred. After personal scrutiny, Rather said, 1,379 were listed, 144 disallowed, two withdrawn, and three not listed. Of these, 151 starred questions were taken up along with 331 supplementaries.
The House received 128 resolutions — 101 admitted, 27 disallowed. Four were listed and taken up, but none was adopted. A total of 2,231 cut motions were received, with 2,059 admitted.
Speaker Rather’s praise for CM
In his closing address, the Speaker singled out Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for praise — a remark that drew attention given the frequent criticism of executive absenteeism in legislatures.
“The chief minister oversees several key departments and has to ensure their proper functioning. At the same time, sitting in the House and personally responding to questions is not an easy task,” Rather said.
He added that CM Omar answering questions personally “reflects his seriousness towards the House and a strong commitment to accountability. This is a positive practice and deserves appreciation.”
Speaker Rather also lauded Chief Secretary Atal Dullo and government officers for the smooth conduct of the session.
Earlier, members cutting across party lines — including Surjeet Singh Slathia, M.Y. Tarigami, Nizam-ud-Din Bhat, Sajad Gani Lone, Pirzada Farooq Ahmad Shah, Tanvir Sadiq, Mir Saifullah, Rafiq Ahmad Naik, Nazir Ahmad Khan (Gurezi), Sajjad Shaheen, Aijaz Ahmad Jan and Salman Sagar — praised Rather for conducting proceedings with “remarkable efficiency.”
Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary said first-time MLAs benefited greatly from the Speaker’s guidance.
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