The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Non-presentation of MTFP a mistake, says Government

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 26, 2007
ePaper

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Non-presentation of MTFP a mistake, says Government

Staff Reporter

Deputy Chief Minister, Prakash tell Opposition to forgive the lapse

Presentation of MTFP mandatory: Deshpande
Speaker pulls Finance Department officials

B.S. Yediyurappa

Bangalore: Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa and Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister M.P. Prakash on Wednesday faced an embarrassment when they were forced to admit in the Legislative Assembly that non-presentation of the mid-term fiscal plan (MTFP) under the Fiscal Responsibility Act was a serious constitutional violation.

Mr. Yediyurappa, who also holds the Finance portfolio, and Mr. Prakash also sought the Opposition to forgive the Government as it was a pardonable mistake and allow the debate to resume.

Earlier, R.V. Deshpande (Congress) alleged that Mr. Yediyurappa had promised at the presentation of the budget that he would present the MTFP, but failed to do so even after three days, since the debate on the demands for grants had started.

Mr. Deshpande said presentation of the MTFP was mandatory and obligatory under Article 202 of the Constitution. Terming the budget as bad in law, Mr. Deshpande demanded that the debate be withheld till the Deputy Chief Minister replied to his contention.

The Congress leader was also critical of the mistake on the part of the Finance Department for not reviewing the financial performance of the Government twice a year and no report on it had been presented to the legislature.

Supporting him, the former Deputy Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, said the intention was to bring about financial discipline and to see that the State did not slip into fiscal and revenue deficit.

Mr. Prakash said he was unable to lay his hands on the MTFP and he would provide it when it was available. He requested Speaker Krishna to take up other issues till Mr. Yediyurappa came and replied to the points raised by Mr. Deshpande, following which the debate was withheld.

But, Janata Dal (U) leader J.C. Madhuswamy and G.V. Srirama Reddy (CPI-M), while agreeing that it was a lapse, said it did not warrant withholding of the debate. Negligence could not be termed a violation of law, Mr. Reddy said.

“Ignorance of law is no excuse,” Mr. Siddaramaiah reminded the member.

Mr. Siddaramaiah said the Union Government gave prize money of Rs. 948 crore to the State Government for the economic reforms in the last three years. Following a demand by Mr. Deshpande, the Speaker pulled up Finance Department officials for their failure in sticking to the mandatory provisions of law. At this stage, Mr. Yediyurappa, who came to the House, admitted it was a mistake. The delay in preparing the MTFP was due to the transfer of S. Subramanya from the Finance Department, he said and added that it would be presented on Thursday.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka