Rectify ‘errors’ in Budget speech: Drabu to Speaker

Tribune News Service

Jammu, January 17

The state Finance Ministry has committed several major errors in the Budget presented by Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu on January 11.

In a letter to Assembly Speaker Kavinder Gupta on Tuesday, Drabu described these as “typographic errors” which “inadvertently crept” into the English as well as Urdu version of the Budget speech and sought immediate corrections in the official records.

“The dearness allowance (DA) 1% has been mentioned in the para number 60 instead of 3%. This rate is actually allowed to those who are already availing the 7th Central pay commission whereas those employees who are presently in the 6th Central pay commission bracket are to get 3% as enhanced DA i.e. from the existing 136% to 139%,” Drabu wrote in the letter.

He also wrote, “Similarly, in the para 68 the words and figures 10 lakh and 50 lakh are to be replaced by 10,000 and 50,000. Therefore, I request you to kindly direct the Assembly Secretariat to make necessary corrections wherever required in their records. The corrected numbers may be deemed to have existed ab initio in the Budget speech.”