Meghalaya budget session on Friday

The three-week budget session of the Meghalaya assembly will begin here on Friday.

Speaker Abu Taher Mondal said the Business Advisory Committee of the assembly had finalised nine working days for the government and six days for private members business. The session will conclude on March 24.

Assam Governor Banwarilal Purohit, who holds additional charge of Meghalaya, would deliver his customary address to the legislature on the opening day of the session, Mondal told IANS.

Chief Minister Mukul Sangma will present on March 15 the budget for 2017-18, which will also be the last budget of the Congress-led Meghalaya United Alliance government as the state goes to polls, Mondal said.

The opposition United Democratic Party, Hill State People's Democratic Party and National People's Party said they would raise several issues, including the crime against women and children.

Independent legislator Julius Kitbok Dorphang, who supports the Mukul Sangma-led government, was arrested on January 6 on charges of raping a 14-year-old girl.

The minor was also allegedly sexually exploited at Marvelene's Inn, owned by the family members of Home Minister Horju Donkupar Roy Lyngdoh.

Lyngdoh has refused to step down despite demands for his resignation in the wake of the sex racket in his family-owned guest house.

Meghalaya Police have chargesheeted Dorphang and five others in connection with the case of human trafficking and sexual abuse.

--IANS

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