PTI
PATNA, FEBRUARY 25
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will seek confidence vote on March 11 at the onset of the 179th session of the Legislative Assembly and his government will table the state budget next day.
The decision regarding the trust vote was taken today at the first cabinet meeting of Kumar’s fourth term as the Chief Minister. Kumar presided over the meeting.Throwing light on the date of the confidence vote, Principal Secretary (Cabinet Coordination) B Pradhan said, “The 179th session of the Bihar legislature will start on March 11 with Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi’s addressing the joint sitting of the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council. The council of ministers has decided to take the floor test on the same day.”
Pradhan said the state Economic Survey would also be tabled on March 11 itself. The government will table its budget for the financial year 2015-16 on March 12 and the Assembly will also take up debate on Governor’s address on the same day.
The debate will continue on March 13 as well and end with the government’s reply on it. Vote-on-Accounts will be taken on March 17.
The session of the legislature will continue till April 22 and will have total 27 working days during this period.
In another major decision, the cabinet today decided to reappoint Ram Balak Mahto as the Advocate General. He was removed from the post by the Jitan Ram Manjhi government on February 18, which appointed Vinod Kumar Kanth as Advocate General in his place.
However, Kanth did not take up the assignment and the state government decided to reappoint Mahto as Advocate General under Article 165(1) of the Constitution of India.
Pradhan also informed that the state government had proposed to temporarily increase the size of Bihar Contingency Fund from its present size of Rs 350 crore to Rs 2,000 crore till March 30.
The state government will use Rs 1,700 crore from the contingency fund to compensate the North and South Bihar Power Distribution Companies for their revenue deficit worth Rs 2,134 crore, which they incurred while purchasing power from NTPC and other energy establishments with an aim to provide 22 to 24 hour electricity in urban areas and 15 to 20 hours electricity in rural areas of the state.
