Ministries to receive spending time-table

The finance ministry is set to ensure that ministries adhere to a spending time-table to avoid an expenditure glut in the last quarter of the fiscal.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram is scheduled to meet the financial advisers of all ministries on Tuesday to know the spending pattern of ministries for 2004-05 before fixing the programme for this year.

The Centre has drawn an ambitious expenditure restructuring plan, which is to be implemented over the next few months. The plan will finalise guidelines for ministries regarding utilisation of their annual budgets. The government will continue with the austerity measures announced last year to restrict expenditure.

The finance ministry had in September last year instructed all ministries to refrain from spending more than 33 per cent of their budget in the last quarter of the financial year.

According to the figures of the Comptroller General of Accounts, till February 2005, the government has managed to restrict Plan and non-Plan expenditure to Rs 4,05,206 crore against a revised estimate of Rs 5,05,791 crore. "We are keen to continue with that practice this fiscal as well," an official said.

The finance ministry had last year taken exception to the practice of spending heavily funds in the last quarter, by ministries like tourism.

Officials said there would also be continued emphasis on ministries releasing funds for their programmes only if the funds already released had been utilised.

Another issue expected to be taken up at the meeting is regarding non-payment of dividend by public sector undertakings to the government. The finance ministry had last year pulled up ministries like power for failing to ensure that PSUs in the sector paid up their dividend.

The finance ministry is also keen to ensure that Plan expenditure is more controlled. "There is a view that while non-Plan expenditure has been by and large controlled, Plan expenditure needs to be tightened further. Very often there is pressure to release funds in the guise of NCMP schemes," an official said.