AP Legislature Session Begins On Monday In New Capital City

Amaravati: The budget session of Andhra Pradesh Legislature beginning on Monday will be held for the first time in the new state capital Amaravati.

Governor E S L Narasimhan will address a joint session of the Legislative Council and the Assembly at 11.06 am. The Legislature will then be adjourned for the day. The Business Advisory Committees of the two Houses of state Legislature will meet on Monday and decide on the duration of the session. The government is keen to wind it up by March 28 after getting the Appropriation Bill passed, ahead of the Telugu New Year's Day 'Ugadi' on March 29.

The AP Legislature session will be held tomorrow after a gap of six months and for the first time in the new capital. The three-day monsoon session in September was the last to be held in Hyderabad, the joint capital of AP and Telangana. The state government had to skip the winter session, normally held in December, as construction of the new Legislature building in Amaravati was not completed in time. The new Legislature building, with hi-tech facilities, was finally inaugurated on March 2 in the state government's transitional headquarters premises at Velagapudi, where the Secretariat is also located.

Since there are no facilities (accommodation) for the legislators in the new capital region, the government would pay them Rs 50,000 each as a special allowance, state Legislative Affairs Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu said. The state's Budget for the year 2017-18 will be presented in the House on March 13. The agriculture budget will also be presented on the same day. The government is expected to introduce at least five Bills during the budget session.