SHILLONG:
The Meghalaya Assembly on March 17, the final day of the Budget session, passed the Meghalaya State Agricultural Produce and Livestock Marketing (Promotion and Facilitation) (Amendment) Bill, 2022.
With that, the number of Bills passed during the 10-day budget session went up to seven, which included the spending Bill that also authorised the government to incur an expenditure of Rs 18,881 crore as mentioned in the budget estimate for the financial year 2022-23.
The chief minister also tabled the Meghalaya Appropriation (No.II) Bill, 2022 to authorise payment and appropriation of certain sums from the consolidated fund of Meghalaya for the services of the Financial Year ending March 31, 2023 on Thursday.
On March 9, chief minister Conrad Sangma presented a Rs 1849 crore deficit budget for the year 2022-23, which is around 4.5 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP).
The other Bills passed by the Assembly in the last 10 days include the Meghalaya Compulsory Registration of Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2022; Meghalaya Settlement of Arrears under the State Taxation (Amendment) Bill, 2022; Registration (Meghalaya Amendment) Bill, 2022; Meghalaya Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (Amendment) Bill, 2022; Contingency Fund of Meghalaya (Amendment) Bill, 2022, and Meghalaya State Agricultural Produce and Livestock Marketing (Promotion and facilitation) (Amendment) Bill, 2022.