Unhappy to note that the Railways had ended up spending more than what was earmarked for it in its budgetary allocations, a parliamentary panel has asked the public transporter to review its internal mechanisms to check the recurring phenomenon.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) headed by Congress MP KV Thomas observed that the excess expenditure in 2010-11 reached a huge sum of Rs3,056.86 crore as it rose from Rs1,922.84 crore in 2009-10 after being calculated as Rs532.12 crore during 2008-09. Such expenditure, as is incurred in excess of sanctioned estimates is treated as unsanctioned it said.
The 22-member PAC noted that despite the directions from Rail Ministry to the zonal units for undertaking a realistic assessment of their expenditure, 248 instances of the actual expenditure incurred by the zones exceeding their allotment have come to light while there were 139 cases of savings.
The panel has, therefore, asked Railways to strengthen the system of documentation and verify the authenticity of the data used for projecting budget estimates, particularly at zonal levels.
It suggested that repeated lapses may be brought to the notice of the rail and Finance Ministry that exemplary action may be taken against the CAO and the financial adviser concerned. The panel also noted that the funds allocated were not being optimally utilised.