LA passes J&K budget

Jammu, Mar 27: J&K Legislative Assembly Friday passed the bill authorising the payment and appropriation of Rs 127767,20,27,000 from and out of the consolidated Fund of the Union Territory of J&K for the services of the Financial Year 2026-27 through voice vote.

This included Rs 93424,28,68,000 voted by the House for 36 departments and Rs 34342,91,59,000 charged on the consolidated fund.

This LA Bill number 05 of 2026 (J&K Appropriation (No 02) Bill, 2026) was introduced by the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, for consideration and passage, in pursuance of Section 43 read with Section 41 and 42 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act , 2019 to provide for the appropriation out of the Consolidated Fund of Jammu and Kashmir of the money required to meet the expenditure charged on the Consolidated Fund and the Grants made by the Legislative Assembly for the expenditure of the Jammu and Kashmir Government for the Financial Year 2026-27  in respect of the services and purposes specified in the Bill.

The House also passed the Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation (No 01) Bill, 2026 (L A Bill No 04 of 2026) authorising the payment and appropriation of Rs 35,234,128,000.00 (supplementary grant) out of the consolidated Fund of the Union Territory of J&K for the Financial Year 2025-26 through voice vote.

This included Rs 3521,94,28,000 voted by the Legislative Assembly for 36 departments and Rs 1,47,00,000 charged on the consolidated fund.

The third Bill cleared by the House included The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation (No 03) Bill, 2026 (L A Bill No 06 of 2026) authorising the payment and appropriation of 14,510,625,000.00 (Supplementary grant) out of the consolidated Fund of the Union Territory of J&K for the Financial Year 2025-26 also through voice vote.

It included Rs 1306,90,71,000 voted by the Legislative Assembly for 36 departments and Rs 144,15,54,000 charged on the consolidated fund.

The Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had moved these two Bills (J&K Appropriation Bill (No 01) Bill also for consideration and passage. All three Appropriation Bills were passed without any discussion within a few minutes. BJP MLA Pawan Gupta wanted to speak on L A Bill No 05 yet the Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather did not allow him.

“No, you cannot speak. In case of Appropriation Bills, there is limited scope (to speak). At this moment, only those issues can be raised which were not raised earlier during the discussion (on demands for grants). If someone wants to speak, it is mandatory for him under the rules to give a notice in advance to the Speaker so that the latter (Speaker) and his secretariat can check whether they were earlier discussed or not. You did not give me any notice in advance so under rules you cannot speak,” Rather clarified. He informed the House that under rules, only two National Conference MLAs Mubarak Gul and Mir Saifullah had submitted him required notices in advance.

“When I examined them (notices) even though they were not of substantial public importance yet I sorted out a couple of points, which they can discuss in the House briefly,” the Speaker stated.

“The government has also given them a reply to the points raised by them. So, I don’t think they too need to discuss those points here in the House,” Rather asserted.

Mir Saifullah agreed, saying, “I’ve received a reply so I don’t want to press it.” Following it, the Bill was passed with voice vote.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who is also the Finance Minister of J&K, on February 6, had presented J&K budget 2026-27, with an outlay of Rs 1,13,767 Cr, with capital outlay up by Rs 3000 Cr as compared to the outlay for 2025-26, in the J&K Legislative Assembly.