The State Government may have geared up to call the next Budget session in January, what worries it right now is the expenditure having taken place so far as per the 2017-18 account. A sense of urgency over this issue is there since latest inputs present a dismal show altogether.
Data coming in suggest that out of the annual Budget size which was about Rs 75,673 crore, only close to Rs 33,750 crore has been spent so far when just three more months of the undergoing financial year are left.
“The figures have inched closer to the halfway mark. Departments have been told to update the latest figures with them about the expenditure done and bills placed thus far. After getting the inputs fresh directions about expediting the utilization would be issued,” said a senior official in the Planning and Finance Department.
Though, he also cited Financial Regulatory and Budget Management Act (FRBM) which keeps a ceiling on unproductive expenses in order to check fiscal deficit behind the Departments going slow. However, the Finance Department is eyeing for the next three months to present a better show.
“Some more bills are in the process of clearance. Also January, February and March are the months when maximum utilisation of fund takes place. It is not proper to comment about expected expenditure figure but we are hopeful about better results this year than the last occasion,” said Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) Sukhdev Singh.
The Chief Minister’s Office, at the same time, is also keeping a close eye on this. Department heads have been directed to fine tune their schemes and make the required alterations into those. “Some relaxations may be given apart from speedy approvals of the developmental schemes. We have come across that there are Departments that are very slow in issuing tenders and inviting bids. Such Departments are being identified so that the end result can be improved,” said an official.
On its part, the Finance Department has called a meeting in the first week of January where all the Departments would present their estimates about actual expenditure and balance.
“We would hold a review of all the Departments in the next month. Secretaries have been told to come up with their total spending, estimated amount which might be surrendered and what are their demands for the next financial estimate. In a sense we would get a clearer picture by January end which would help us in preparing the Budget for 2018-19,” added Singh.