The Odisha cabinet approved an annual budget of approximately Rs 2 lakh crore for the financial year (FY) 2022-2023. Even though the complete budget has been approved, finance minister Niranjan Pujari presented the state parliament with a vote-on-account for four months (April-July) on March 30. A senior official told the media that as it was not possible to pass the entire budget during this ongoing session, they will seek the vote-on-account for four months. The four-month outlay is likely to be around Rs 90,000 crore. On March 31, the appropriation bill would be passed to enable the government to spend money from the state exchequer from April 1, the beginning of the new FY2022-23. According to the media sources, provisions would be made for continuing all current programs/schemes, including the salary and pension of state government workers and retirees, even though the state government seldom makes preparations for new schemes in the vote-on-account. Among the ongoing programmes, schemes aimed at reducing poverty, increasing farmers' income through crop diversification and direct benefit transfer, providing piped drinking water to all, would enable quality education and skill development, provide quality physical infrastructure for enhancing economic activities, and empowering women are expected to receive significant funding in the four-month budget. Some of the state government's top priorities, including the transformation of Puri, the rehabilitation of Lingaraj, the upgrade of SCB medical college and hospital, and other tourist infrastructure development, are expected to get significant funding in the budget. Following the council of ministers meeting, a meeting of the state cabinet was held, in which 27 proposals from various ministries were adopted. As the state assembly is in session, no details of the cabinet decision have been published. Image Source Also read: Odisha's Malkangiri Airport to become functional by Jan 2024