Team Herald
PANJIM: Amidst Opposition claims of the State being hit by a financial crunch, Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant has directed all departments to submit proposals on measures they intend to initiate to generate revenue.
Sawant on Monday chaired a meeting to review the progress of capital and revenue expenditure of 86 departments. The meeting was held against the backdrop of allegations by Congress that the State is heading towards a financial emergency with debt touching almost Rs 20,000 crore.
Speaking to media persons after the meeting, Sawant said, “I have asked departments to submit detailed proposals with measures they will initiate to generate revenue.”
During the meeting, the Chief Minister observed that except for 13 departments, all have touched 33 per cent expenditure till date, for the current financial year. “This is despite the fact that the first two months of the financial year were under election code of conduct,” he stated. Sawant said that for the year 2018, the expenditure was 31 per cent during the same period.
“Many are saying that the State does not have money to spend. But the figures says otherwise. No work is stopped due to money and expenditure is going smoothly,” he said, referring to the Congress allegations.
Sawant said that departments like Industries, Panchayat, Skill Development, Fisheries, Tribal Welfare, Mines, Airport, Rural Development Agency, Jail, Sports, Captain of Ports, Information Technology and Non Conventional Resources have spent 20 per cent on capital expenditure. “I have sought clarification from the departments,” he said.
The Chief Minister also noted that along with lack of implementation of Central schemes by the departments, a large amount of Utilisation Certificates (UCs) have not been submitted to the Union government, failing which there is no release of funds in those concerned sectors.
“Though we receive money from the central government, we have failed to submit UCs. As a result, there is no further release of funds,” he said, adding that RDA Department has not received any amount from the Centre for the last two years for its failure to submit UCs.
Sawant said that the department has been warned to clear all the pending Ucs and asked to ensure that central schemes are implemented in toto.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), in its report ending March 2017, had pointed out that Rs 2,178.23 crore grants paid to the State remained unutilised up to June 2017, with the State failing to submit the UCs, hinting at possible misappropriation and fraud.
Later, in a statement, Sawant said that the overall percentage of expenditure is about 32 per cent – revenue expenditure is about 38 percent and capital expenditure is 20 percent. The expenditure corresponding to same period during previous year is about 32 percent. Total expenditure as on September 30, 2019 stood at Rs 6,612 crore.
The Chief Minister instructed the authorities to review the expenditure periodically so that at least 70 per cent of the expenditure is incurred before December 2019.
