Education Department, Energy and Petrochemicals , Industries and Mines and Narmada Water Resources Water Supply and Kalpasar as well as Revenue department of Gujarat government topped in spending more than what was allocated to them in the budget of 2018-19, while Finance Department, Women and Child Welfare, Labour and Employment, Tribal Welfare Department, as well as Road and Building Department, were the worst in spending the allotted budget, according to a report of Patheya Budget Centre.

The departments that spent less than the allocation are critical from the point of social development, it said. In all, 13 departments spent less than the allocation, while 15 departments spent money in excess of actual allocation. The state as a whole spent Rs 5,773 crore in excess of the allocation according to the Revised Estimates (RE) for the financial year 2018-19.

While presenting the budget for 2018-19, the state government had estimated total expenses of Rs 1,83,666.38 crore, against which the revised figures for the expenditure stood at Rs 1,89,440.27 crore, indicating an excess spend or Rs 5773.90 crore. "The departments where actual spent was less than the allocation, pertain to social developments and welfare of the marginalized sections. It means that welfare of these segments of the society has been affected because of this," said Mahender Jethmalani, chief economist at Patheya Budget Centre. He also drew attention to the fact that lower spend of Rs 7657.07 crore was because the government did not spend about Rs 7,000 it had initially allocated for Dearness Allowance of its employees. If it had spent this money, the fiscal deficit would have risen to over Rs 37,000 crore, instead of Rs 31,787 crore as mentioned in budget documents.

On lower spend for tribals, MLAs have time and again alleged that in spite of dedicated allotment for tribals, these are used for general works like construction of roads and water tanks, which benefit all, while tribals are deprived of their rights.

Departments with the highest spend include Education (Rs 3,022 crore), Energy and Petroleum (Rs 2,599 crore), Narmada Water Resources Water Supply and Kalpasar (Rs 2,163 crore). The department that failed to utilize the funds include Finance Department (Rs 7,657 crore), Women and Child Development (Rs 456 crore), Labour and Employment (Rs 273 crore), Tribal Welfare (Rs 225 crore).