The Pema Khandu-led state government has been holding pre-budget consultative meetings with various NGOs and political parties over the last few days, seeking their suggestions and ideas. The government has sought suggestions from the citizens, too, in this regard. This process started two years ago, and has become quite popular. The preparation of the budget has become more important as the state government recently announced that henceforth only schemes that are reflected in the budget will be implemented. This kind of innovative steps will go a long way in improving governance. The citizens will feel empowered when their suggestions are incorporated in the budget. It is simply not possible for every citizen to meet the chief minister or the finance minister to give suggestions to improve governance.
Now they have a window of opportunity to directly share their views and ideas with the government. It is a win-win situation for both the government as well as the citizens. This coming budget is the first of the recently-elected Khandu government. There are lots of expectations among the people, and everyone will be eagerly waiting to hear what budget has in store for the ordinary citizens. Considering the poor condition of the roads across the state, the state government should focus on the road sector in the budget. If Arunachal has to progress in the true sense, the road sector will need major improvement. Hill states like Meghalaya and Sikkim have much better roads than Arunachal does. These two states are much more developed than our state because of better roads. The government should also really work hard to improve the health and education sectors. Successive governments in the past always pledged to prioritize health, education and road but things remained the same. Even the Khandu-led government during its previous tenure made a similar pledge. However, the condition of the roads and hospitals in the state has only worsened.