Nine more days for state budget; Balagopal is 18th Finance Minister to present budget

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Finance Minister KN Balagopal will present his first full budget in nine days. He will present the budget on March 11. Last year, he had presented a revised version of the budget presented by Dr Thomas Isaac.

KN Balagopal is the 18th Finance Minister to present a budget since the formation of the state. The first budget was presented by C Achutha Menon. June 7, 1957. So far, 64 budgets have been presented. KM Mani holds the record for presenting the most number of budgets in the assembly. Dr Thomas Isaac came second- 10 times. Only R Shankar, KM Mani, Dr Thomas Isaac and T Sivadas Menon were able to present the budget for the five-year term. C. Achutha Menon and KM Mani had the opportunity to present the budgets of both the Left and Right Fronts. The Kerala budget for the years 1965-66 and 1966-67 were presented in the Lok Sabha. The vote on account of 1982-89 was also passed in the Lok Sabha.

C Achutha Menon, V Viswanatha Menon and K Sankaranarayanan presented four budgets each and Oommen Chandy five budgets at different times.

While PK Kunju and Vakkom Purushothaman presented two budgets each, NK Seshan, KT George, CH Muhammed Koya, MK Hemachandran, S Varadarajan Nair and CV Padmarajan presented one budget each.

The budget is a document that reveals the approximate revenue and expenditure of a state for a year. Article 202 of the Constitution stipulates that a budget must be introduced in the Legislative Assembly with the permission of the Governor, passed and acted upon accordingly. Budget proceedings will begin in July. Various departments must report their expected revenue and expenditure within September 30. The finance minister will begin budget work in October. It will be presented in the Assembly in February or March. The budget must be passed by a public debate in the Assembly.