Bhubaneswar, Jul 12 (IANS): Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi held discussions with the experts from various sectors during a pre-budget preparatory meeting here on Friday.

The Chief Minister who also holds the Finance Department portfolio is going to present a full-fledged budget for the 2024-25 financial year on July 25.

“Our government has been giving due weightage to the views of common people from the very beginning as a people’s government. The budget for 2024-25 financial years is scheduled to be presented before the assembly on July 25,” the Chief Minister told media persons.

“The efforts are on so that our budget would actually be a people’s budget reflecting the hopes and aspirations of all. For this, we have sought opinions via online, and WhatsApp and it’s heartening to learn that many people have participated in this. Over 12,000 people have submitted their opinions online which is around six times more than previous years,” he added.

He said that more than 150 experts and persons having vast experience in economic and other fields were present during the pre-budget preparatory meeting held on Friday.

“The dignitaries included economists, former finance ministers and secretaries and people from different sections of the society expressed their opinions and suggestions on the budget during the meeting. As many as 26 out of them have also submitted written proposals during the meeting. The proposals and opinions have been noted by the finance department,” added the Chief Minister.

The Chief Minister also said that his government will try to include valuable suggestions and proposals in the coming budget.

Deputy CMs KV Singh Deo and Pravati Parida, former finance ministers Prafulla Ghadai, Panchanan Kanungo, Shashi Bhusan Behera, the regional director of Reserve Bank of India and the general manager of National Bank for Agriculture and Development (NABARD) participated in the meeting.