More discussions needed on budget: Speaker

Hyderabad, Feb 20 (UNI) Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker K R Suresh Reddy today called for more discussions on the budget by the members of the House as it was an important matter for the government and the people.

Inaugurating the one-day workshop on 'Budget Reporting', organised by the Press Academy of Andhra Pradesh here , he said budget was a sacred document of the government which needed more time for the discussion.

He said the media must play a prominent role in educating people and the members about the importance of the budget.

He said six days had been allotted for discussion in the House on the budget and 18 days for demands. But of late the House was not able to discuss it threadbare due to various factors and stressed that every member should spend more time in the House when the budget was being discussed.

Principal Chief Secretary of the Finance Ministry P Ramakantha Reddy explained the various factors about the budget and its preparation, based on revenues and expenditure.

Director of Rajaji International Institute of Public Affairs and Administration E Sadasiva Reddy appealed to the media to educate the members of the House on the importance of the budget and thorough discussion on it.

Andhra Pradesh Press Academy Chairman D Amar, Secretary M Prabhakara Rao and a large number of journalists attended the workshop aimed at giving an orientation to mediapersons in the nuances of reporting the state's annual budget.

UNI