RABINARAYAN JENA, OP
Bhubaneswar: The Skill Development and Technical Education department has come under scrutiny over poor utilisation of budgetary funds, with no expenditure reported under 16 schemes involving Rs 740 crore, even as nearly half of the financial year has passed. Finance Adviser-cum-Special Secretary of the department Shashanka Bhushan Mahapatra has expressed displeasure over the performance of the Directorate of Technical Education and Training (DTET) and Directorate of Skill Development and Employment (DSDE).
In a letter to the two directorates September 10, Mahapatra pointed out that the Finance department’s guidelines require at least 30% of the budget to be spent by September and 60% by December. However, expenditure by both directorates has remained low.
According to a report submitted by the Special Secretary, Rs 1,220 crore was provided under the state plan in the 2026-27 Budget, of which Rs 255.65 crore has been released to the two directorates. So far, only 2.65% of the released funds have been utilised.
Similarly, not a single rupee has been spent from the Rs 28 crore allocated under centrally sponsored schemes. In contrast, Rs 204 crore of the Rs 575 crore earmarked for administrative expenditure has been utilised, accounting for 35.44%.
Among the 16 schemes with zero expenditure are the Skill Development Scheme, Sudak shya, Utkarsh, IEC, Rupantari karan (VSSUT and OUTR) and the Entrepreneurship Scheme. The report noted that while the financial year is nearing the halfway mark, government employees have already drawn more than Rs 203 crore in salaries. However, only Rs 31 crore has been spent on strengthening government infrastructure. Of this, DTET has utilised Rs 28.82 crore, while DSDE has spent only Rs 2.25 crore.
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