Kelkar gets extension to reshape finance

Vijay Kelkar, the adviser to the finance minister, has been given another extension to complete his report on the restructuring of the finance ministry.

Kelkar, who submitted his report on the implementation of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act in July to Finance Minister P Chidambaram, has this week begun meetings with senior officials of the ministry on the restructuring issue.

Kelkar's two-year contract was expected to be terminated at the end of this month.

The report was commissioned by former Finance Minister Jaswant Singh in the Budget for 2003-04 to give a new look to the ministry.

In his Budget speech, Singh had said there was a need to re-organise the ministry. He had said the department of economic affairs would be restructured and have separate divisions dealing with economic policy, analysis (international and national), capital markets, Budget, banking trade and aid concerns and infrastructure and coordination.

Senior officials said Kelkar would not restrict himself to the department of economic affairs, but would also focus on the departments of expenditure and revenue.

He is expected to address the changes needed to make the ministry lean and in sync with the emerging areas of concern. This may also include cutting down on the number of secretaries from the current six. The divisions will be arranged in a way that will ensure better interaction with the other ministries.

As part of the proposals, the administrative and investigation wings of the department of revenue are almost certain to be separated from the ministry, and will be housed in different buildings.

The total staff strength of the finance ministry, including its associated departments, is expected to touch 2,23,050 at the end of March 2005.