Samrat Choudhary presents 1st Budget as Finance Minister in Bihar Assembly

PATNA: Amid ruckus, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, who also holds the Finance portfolio, on Tuesday presented the first-ever Budget here in the Assembly in the capacity of Finance Minister.

During his speech, the opposition lawmakers created a ruckus in the assembly where Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and almost all MLAs of the ruling NDA were present.

As soon as Samrat Choudhary began the budget speech, opposition leaders started raising slogans against the NDA government.

They threw chairs and also smashed the reporting table on the well.

The Marshalls present in the house tried to stop them but the RJD, Left and the Congress MLAs kept raising slogans and disrupted the proceedings of the House.

At one point, Deputy Speaker Maheshwar Hazari had to stop Choudhary's speech amid the chaos.

He asked the Opposition legislators to calm down and not disrupt the House.

Hazari also said that they (Opposition MLAs) will get adequate time to speak in the House.

The Opposition leaders, however, did not listen to him and staged a walk out from the Assembly.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Samrat Choudhary presented a budget of Rs 2,78,425 crore in the Assembly. He has given special focus on education and employment.

"I was the cabinet minister several times in Bihar in the past but I presented the Budget for the first time as a Finance Minister. The growth rate of Bihar is 10.4 per cent which is the highest in the country. The current government will take care of all sections of society. Moreover, the poverty rate in Bihar has declined by 8 per cent. Around 2 crore people have come out of poverty line in Bihar," Choudhary said.

"Of Rs 2,78,425 crore total budget, the Finance Ministry has allocated Rs 700 crore for the student credit card policy, 540 crore allocated for Saat Nischay part 2, Rs 46,729 crore in transportation and communication and others," he added.

Choudhary further said the government has implemented a fourth agricultural road map and the state government also enhanced the reservation.

"A total of 94 lakh families in Bihar are declared as economically weak. The state government has decided to give subsidies to the investors who invest in the Tourism department. We will also try to bring industries to Bihar," he added.