The budget session of Bodoland Territorial Council Legislative Assembly (BTCLA) for the 2023-24 financial year began on Tuesday with Katiram Boro, speaker of BTCLA in the chair at BTC Assembly House at Bodofa Nwgwr in Kokrajhar.
Chief executive member of BTC, Pramod Boro, who also holds the finance department, presented a normal budget estimates of BTC of Rs 2133.4292 crore against the estimated receipt of Rs 2121.8490 crore estimated expenditure and Rs 11.58 crore as surplus amount for the financial year 2023-24 for consideration of the house.
In his budget speech, CEM Boro conveyed his gratitude to the Prime Minister and chief minister for providing special financial assistance to BTC to accelerate the development activities in the Bodoland Territorial Region.
The BTC chief said an amount of Rs 1042.72 crore included in the state budget for 2023-24 has not been included in the receipt of the council budget as per norms stipulated by the principal accountant general of Assam.
Presenting the budget, Boro said after an era of uncertainties and economic stagnation, the council has now set the motion of Bodoland Territorial Region towards better public services through right prioritisation and quality of public expenditure.
Giving assurance for maintaining financial stability of the council, he said that efforts had been taken to carry forward all round development of the council, along with compression of non-essential expenditure, close monitoring of various departments’ schemes with strict enforcement of financial discipline, transparency and accountability.
He also mentioned about Bodoland Territorial Council Vision-2030, a road map on how sustainable development goals could be contextualised in Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) for establishment of stronger and integrated governance system.
He said that the BTC government is working dedicatedly towards the welfare and integration of the region.