By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, March 30 2020: Odisha Assembly on Monday unanimously passed the Appropriation Bill for the year 2020-21 amdi Covid-19 scare paving the way for the state government to spend Rs 1.55 lakh crore from its consolidated fund during 2020-21.

The Appropriation Bill presented by Odisha Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari and the Leader of Opposition Pradipta Kumar Naik of the BJP and Congress Legislature Party Leader Narasingha Mishra supported it.

The House held a brief session at the convention centre in Lok Seva Bhawan instead of the Assembly building as Odisha’s third COVID-19 patient was found to have come in contact with seven Vidhan Sabha employees. The entire staff of assembly had been quarantined and the entire Assembly building had been sanitised.

This is for the first time in the last six decades that the House proceedings were held outside the Assembly building. Assembly Speaker Surya Narayan Patro applied guillotine to pass the bill and adjourned the House sine die.

Pujari had presented the annual budget in the Assembly on February 18. However, due to novel coronavirus outbreak and subsequent adjournment of the Assembly from March 16 to March 29, discussion on Demands of Grants of all the departments could not be taken up.

Around 50 MLAs including Speaker S N Patro, who participated in the Monday session, were seen wearing masks and entered into the House after washing their hands. Some of them were also seen wearing hand gloves while a few others themselves drove their vehicles to attend the proceedings. Journalists were not allowed inside the Convention Centre, where the House assembled for an hour to pass the Appropriation Bill.