The 11th session of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly will begin on 16 February with the address of Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla.
A notification to this effect was issued by the Vidhan Sabha secretariat today. However, it did not specify the duration of the session or the date on which the state budget would be presented by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania stated that the session would commence at 2 pm on 16 February with the governor’s address, followed by an obituary reference to recently deceased former members of the Assembly.
Following the obituary references, the House will take up legislative business during the session, he said.
Before the latest announcement, a proposal had been made to convene a one-day special session of the assembly on 17 February to discuss the state’s financial position, especially in the wake of the 16th Finance Commission’s recommendation to discontinue the Revenue Deficit Grant (RDG), a key source of central assistance for Himachal Pradesh.
However, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu later confirmed that the file had been returned by the governor, who sought clarifications or did not approve a separate one-day session.
The deliberations on the discontinuation of the RDG and its implications for the state’s development and fiscal health will now be taken up in the upcoming regular budget session of the assembly.
In response to the governor returning the file, Public Works Department Minister Vikramaditya Singh said that the budget session usually begins with the Governor’s address and that holding a special one-day session focused on the RDG under such conditions may have appeared procedurally inappropriate.
“There are most likely technical issues. Therefore, the discussion on the state’s financial health will now be held during the regular session only,” he added.
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