Mid-term review: 32 major UP govt departments used only 31% budget in 6 months

A mid-term review has revealed that at least 32 state government departments have failed to use a major chunk of budgetary funds allocated to them to step up development works ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

An amount of Rs 1.03 lakh crore, comprising only 31.12 per cent of the total budgetary provision of Rs 3.31 lakh crore (including supplementary budget), has been utilised by these important departments in the first six months of financial year 2018-2019.

Most of the departments which have failed to use major part of their funds have a budget of Rs 1,000 crore or more. These departments include education (basic, secondary and higher), energy, infrastructure and industrial development, urban development, civil aviation, forest, agriculture, sugar and sugarcane development, minority welfare and public works department.

A close scrutiny of mid-term performance (April 1-September 30, 2018) of these departments reveals that their failure to expedite use of funds in a time-bound manner may slow down the pace of development ahead of general elections.

The departments were sanctioned Rs 2.09 lakh crore but as on September 30 they could utilize only 49 per cent of the funds.

If Rs 39,104 crore spent on establishment of these departments (salaries etc.) is taken into account, the actual amount spent on development will come down further.

Though many of these departments have expedited work after monsoon, senior government officers are keeping a close watch on the situation as any delay or slow pace of work on important projects may give a tool to the opposition parties to attack the government.

The state government got a budget of Rs 4,28,384.53 crore passed for 2018-2019 and an additional supplementary budget of Rs 34,833.24 crore was also passed recently to incorporate allocation of funds for some major development projects that included provisions for defence corridor and Jewar international airport.

For 2017-2018, the state government had an annual budget of Rs 3.85 lakh crore but was able to spend only Rs 3.05 lakh crore (about 79.2 per cent of the annual budget). This included revenue expenditure of Rs 2.66 lakh crore (about 86.6 per cent of the budgetary estimates for the year).

The state government’s capital expenditure was merely 50 per cent of the budgetary estimates with spending coming down to Rs 39,000 crore against the estimated provision of Rs 78,000 crore.

According to a senior officer, the state government is likely to issue fresh directives to departments concerned to work out plans to expedite implementation of major development projects in a time-bound manner.

“The departments have been asked to complete the process of e-tendering to ensure that work on many projects may begin. The departments have also been directed to work out plans to monitor progress at regular intervals,” he added.

The officer said if the departments could not improve performance and failed to use the allocated amount in the current financial year, they could be asked to surrender funds.

As certain funds can be used only when the departments get the central share, senior officers will be asked to get in touch with the respective ministries for release of funds at the earliest.

The state government has received only 39.2 per cent of the central funds targeted for 2018-2019.

First Published: Oct 25, 2018 15:14 IST