Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Assembly today unanimously adopted the Appropriation Bill, informed ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLA Amar Satpathy.
He further informed that the House was adjourned for an indefinite period after passage of the Bill moved by Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari and added that Leader of the Opposition Pradipta Nayak of the BJP and Narasingha Mishra of the Congress took part in the debate.
All Demands for Grants were passed through guillotine.
The Odisha Appropriation Bill, 2020 amounting to Rs 1,55,963,26,81,000.00 (gross) was passed in the Assembly.
While Rs 1,19,998,26,77,000 under the Revenue Account, Rs 35,965,00,04,000 was placed under Capital Account in the Appropriation Bill.
This was the first-time that the House assembled in the newly built Convention Hall of the Lokseva Bhawan here instead of Odisha Assembly.
The Odisha Assembly which assembled at 10.30 AM held business for a brief period of about one and a half hours and was adjourned for an indefinite period after passage of the Appropriation Bill.
Most of the MLAs had come with protective masks on their faces. Some of these law makers had come driving their own cars.
It may be pointed out here that in view of the coronavirus outbreak, as a precautionary measure arrangements were made to make 8-9 legislators sit in one row in the Convention Hall.
By adhering to the guidelines on social distancing, a minimum distance of one metre was maintained between the seats of the members.
It’s noteworthy to mention here that since a staff of the State Assembly had come in contact with the third COVID-19 patient of the State; all the staff has been quarantined as a precautionary measure to contain coronavirus from spreading.
Further, the entire State Assembly building and its premises have been sanitized and the venue of the remaining part of the Budget Session had to be relocated.
Worth mentioning, the first phase of the Budget Session of the Odisha Assembly began on February 14 and ended on February 26. The second phase of session started on March 11 was adjourned on March 13 in view of the coronavirus outbreak till March 29 as a precaution against coronavirus.
