PANJIM: Hours before Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant is to present the State Budget 2020-21, the State Legislative Assembly’s Budget Committee on Wednesday claimed that only 31 per cent of the total Budget has been actually utilised during the last and the ongoing fiscal.
The seven-member committee chaired by Goa Forward Party MLA Vijai Sardesai met on Wednesday to take stock of the situation vis-à-vis the last budget.
Speaking to media persons after the meeting, Sardesai said that after going through the figures produced by the departments, the committee is of the view that only 31.5 per cent of 2018-19 and 2019-20 budget has been utilised, thus posing a big question as to where the money is going.
“We have made calculations based on the average utilisation of budget by various departments. The conclusion is that only 31.5 per cent of the total budget allocated has been utilised,” Sardesai said.
“So where is the money going? There is no answer. So we asked Finance Department to justify where is the money going. They said we spend what we get. That means, the figures quoted in the Budget are sugar coated and they don’t exist,” Sardesai said.
“The budget exercise is in futility. It is made to sugarcoat the figures. Actually nothing happens because earnings are zero,” he said, adding that the last budget presented by then chief minister Manohar Parrikar was around Rs 18,000 crore.
The former deputy chief minister urged the Chief Minister to ensure that the new Budget 2020-21 puts across the facts and there is no sugarcoating. “Let CM speak the truth and we will support him,” he said.
Congress MLA and another member of the committee, Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco said, “Our annual budget is about Rs 18,000 crore. If you go to see the utilisation figures, it will not cross even Rs 8,000 crore,” he said.
He alleged that there is no proper verification of the taxes paid by the casino industry. “Government accepts whatever money that is deposited by casinos. There is no cross verification of the figures,” he said.
