The inaugural session of the newly-constituted 15th Lok Sabha would begin on June 1 and continue till June 9,the government announced on Saturday. The new UPA government,at its first cabinet meeting on Saturday,decided the dates for the election of Speaker and the address of President Pratibha Patil to the joint session of Parliament. Briefing reporters on the outcome of the meeting,P Chidambaram,who was sworn in with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and 18 other cabinet colleagues yesterday,said the first two days of the session would be consumed in administering the oath of office to the newly elected Members of the Lok Sabha. June 3 has been kept for the election of the Speaker. The next day,Rajya Sabha would be convened and President Pratibha Patil would address the joint session of the two Houses. From June 5,Friday,the discussion on the motion of thanks to the Presidents address would begin and continue till June 9,Tuesday,the last day of the session. The Parliament will go for a short break after that and reconvened at a date to be decided later. In the second half,the government is slated to present its full budget for the year 2009-2010. Due to the upcoming elections,the government had only taken a Vote on Account in February,which is valid till July 31. Chidambaram said all the 19 cabinet ministers attended Saturdays meeting which lasted for 30 minutes and was presided over by the Prime Minister. Manmohan Singh told his cabinet colleagues that the government had made a number of promises to the people of India and it was important that all those promises are kept. Chidambaram said there was no discussion on the allocation of portfolios to the ministers. Responding to queries whether the government would pass another Vote on Account in the second half of the session instead of a full Budget,Chidambaram said,The government is hopeful of passing the full budget. The Leader of the House will have discussions with the leaders of all political parties to help in ensuring the smooth passage of the Budget. A second Vote on Account will be necessitated only if it is not possible to pass a full budget. Chidambaram said no bills were slated to be introduced during the first session of the Lok Sabha.
