Gujarat Assembly Gears Up For Budget Session Starting February 1, Plans to Table Around a Dozen Bills

Gandhinagar: The Gujarat state assembly budget 2024-25 will commence on Thursday which will continue for almost a month. The state government is likely to table around a dozen bills.

The budget session of the assembly will be a sort of dull affair as the main opposition Congress, which had its lowest tally in the house has been further reduced to 15 by the resignation of two of it's legislators. Equally, the other party, the Aam Admi Party (AAP) too has lost one legislator. All the three are believed to be donning the saffron brigade shortly.

BJP stands strong with 156 legislators

The ruling BJP party, strengthened by 156 legislators, will be going out gung ho on the house, will most likely come up with a public friendly budget looking at the upcoming general elections in April May this year. The chief minister Bhupendra Patel led BJP will be tabling around a dozen Bills in the house in the month long session, beginning Thursday.

Among these proposed bills is the Family ID Bill, designed to address “leakages and shortcomings” in various welfare schemes. Another bill, namely the Gujarat Electricity Duty Bill, will entrust the commercial tax department to oversee the recovery of electricity dues. Another major bill that could be tabled is the Gujarat Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Laws (Amendment) Bill, aimed at eliminating irrelevant clauses that impede the sale and purchase of agricultural land.

Here is the list of bills that may be presented in this budget session:

1. The Gujarat University of Health Sciences Bill 2023,

2. The Gujarat Public Trust (Amendment) Bill 2023,

3. The Gujarat Electricity Duty Bill 2023,

4. The Gujarat Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Laws (Amendment) Bill 2023,

5. The Gujarat Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Act 2023,

6. Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (Amendment) Bill 2023,

7. Pandit Deendayal University (Amendment) Bill 2023,

8. Family ID Bill,

9. Gujarat Warehouses (Amendment) Bill 2023,

10. The Gujarat Act for the Production, Conservation, Regulation, and Management of Groundwater Bill 2023,

11. The Bombay Rents, Hotels and Lodging House Rates Control (Gujarat Amendment) Bill 2024.