AIZAWL, May 26 - Legislators of Mizoram�s largest Opposition party, Zoram People�s Movement (ZPM), have urged the State Governor to summon a special Assembly Budget Session to adopt a budget reappropriation Bill in view of the impending coronavirus-triggered financial crisis.
A meeting of the ZPM Legislature Party, led by its leader Lalduhoma, on Monday recommended reappropriation of the State�s annual budget for 2020-21 in order to avoid supplementary demands for grants at year-end.
�Due to unexpected expenditures caused by the coronavirus pandemic, it is very likely that we will see supplementary demands for grants at the year-end. To avoid such circumstances, we need to reappropriate the annual budget,� Lalduhoma said.
He added that since the State�s annual budget was passed before the COVID-19 crisis, priority lists need to be reviewed. The ZPM leader said that the Chief Minister, who also holds the Finance portfolio, would present the true picture of the State�s finances in the special session, and later the members could discuss which sectors should be given more priority than others.
The ZPM legislators also felt that the austerity measures adopted by the Zoramthanga Cabinet, were inadequate to ease the financial burden inflicted on the State Government.
