Budget For UTs

Budget For UTs

Topic: Polity

Section: Parliament and Legislature

Context- The Jammu and Kashmir Budget 2022-23 of around ₹1.42 lakh crore was passed by the Lok Sabha on Monday.

Concept-

About Budget:

• Annual Financial Statement (AFS), the document as provided under Article 112, shows estimated receipts and expenditure of the Government of India.
• The receipts and disbursements are shown under the three parts, in which Government Accounts are kept viz.,
  • (i) Consolidated Fund,
  • (ii) Contingency Fund and
  • (iii) Public Account.
• Annual Financial Statement has the following heads.
  • Statement I – Consolidated Fund of India [Receipts and Expenditure: Revenue Account; Receipts and Expenditure: Capital Account]
  • Statement IA – Expenditure charged on the Consolidated Fund of India
  • Statement 2 – Contingency Fund of India
  • Statement 3 – Public Accounts of India [Receipts and Expenditure]
  • Receipts & Expenditure of Union Territories without Legislature.
• According to Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs has found, Union Territories (UTs) without legislature grossly under utilised funds allocated to them in the past financial year, and those UTs that have a legislature performed better on the development front, the
• In its 238th report tabled in Parliament on Monday, the committee headed by Congress leader Anand Sharma said the utilisation of funds was noticeably low in Andaman and Nicobar Islands (A&NI) and Ladakh.
• Ladakh has been demanding statehood or at least a legislature ever since the region was turned into a UT in 2019 after its separation from the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
• MP from Ladakh has demanded in Parliament that the region be included in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
• While recommending examination of the possibility of including Ladakh in the 5th/6th Schedule, the standing committee report said:
• The Committee recommends that special status may be granted to the UT of Ladakh considering the developmental needs of the tribal population.