Bhubaneswar: State’s programme expenditure till August 2019 has declined by 4 per cent as compared to the corresponding period of 2018-19 financial year. The sluggish state spending has become a case for concern of the government.
The programme expenditure till August 2018 was around 32 per cent of the budget provision while the expenditure till August 2019 was 28 per cent of the budget allocation.
This was revealed during the all-secretaries meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy here Tuesday. This was the first all-secretaries meeting held at Kharavela Bhawan here.
The dip in programme expenditure is attributed to enforcement of model code of conduct for general elections during the initial 2-3 months of the current financial year, sources said.
Reviewing the fiscal performances of the departments till August, Tripathy directed secretaries to expedite implementation of the projects and utilisation of the budgeted amount in coming months.
The secretaries were asked to implement the reforms in the fields of budget preparation, strengthening macro-fiscal forecasting, annual and medium term budgeting and introducing commitment control system for uninterrupted financing to various projects and programmes.
Reviewing the basic facilities and connectivity available in the Lok Seva Bhawan, the Chief Secretary directed the departments, which were asked to shift to the new building, to start operating from the new building soon.
Tripathy also directed the officials to maintain uniformity in the look and getup of the departments. BSNL officials were requested to complete the LAN connectivity for integration of the directorates with respective departments.
Emphasising implementation of 5T action agenda of the departments, he directed the departments to fix quantitative targets with milestones and timelines. The 5T action agenda of the departments of MSME, General Administration, Health & Family Welfare, Industry, Women & Child Welfare and Law were discussed at the meeting.
Finance secretary Ashok Kumar Meena said the total revenue collection up to August 2019 grew by around 7 per cent over the same period of last fiscal year.
Non-tax revenue collection has increased by 12 per cent till August 2019 against the same period of last fiscal while revenue collection from own tax sources increased by 5 per cent. The total revenue collection was Rs 12,315 crore against the last fiscal year’s collection of Rs 11,758 crore, the source said.
During the meeting, progress of the projects under District Mineral Foundation (DMF) was also reviewed. Development Commissioner Suresh Chandra Mohapatra stated that total collection under DMF up to August 2019 was Rs 8,252 crore, out of which Rs 8,067 crore was allocated for 12,664 projects.
Around 71 per cent of the fund (Rs 5,722 crore) was allocated for execution of 9,241 projects under priority activities of DMF like drinking water, education, environmental protection, pollution control, healthcare, sanitation, skill development, housing and connectivity. Out of the allocated fund, 73.50 per cent was utilised till August 2019.
