Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji

Panaji, Feb 8: Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant will present the state’s financial statement for 2026–27 on March 6, the opening day of the budget session of the Goa Legislative Assembly. Sawant, who also handles the finance portfolio, confirmed the schedule.

This will be Sawant’s seventh consecutive budget presentation since 2020 and is expected to be the final full-fledged budget before the 2027 Assembly elections.

Officials said the government plans to allocate three days for a general discussion on the budget, followed by around ten days for ministers to place the demands for grants of their respective departments. Unlike the past two years—when only a vote on account was taken and the full budget passed during the monsoon session—the government has decided to clear the complete budget during this session itself.

Sources indicated that the move is aimed at limiting the opposition’s window to mount sustained criticism ahead of the elections. During the 14-day session, the Chief Minister will also table the “action taken” report on the previous budget.

Legislators will be permitted to raise starred and unstarred questions across departments, seek government assurances through private members’ resolutions, and flag matters of urgent public importance during Zero Hour. The session is expected to offer the opposition more opportunities to raise issues compared to recent sittings.

The decision comes after sharp criticism from opposition MLAs over the brevity of the last Assembly session in January, which had just six sittings. Opposition members had complained that the limited duration prevented meaningful debate on key public issues, including demands for a detailed discussion on the Birch fire tragedy that claimed 25 lives.

The budget session will run from March 6 to March 27, with the House scheduled to adjourn on March 19 for Gudi Padwa and on March 26 for Ram Navami.