Faced with stinging criticism for the slow pace of development, the Uttarkahand government on Friday decided to spend a minimum of 75 per cent of all budgetary allocations by December.
At a high-level meeting here, Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank devised a new strategy for a faster pace of development under which a minimum of 25 per cent of the total budgetary allocations for the current financial year would be spent by September. By December, the government would utilise a minimum of 75 per cent funds and by March 31, all the allocations should be exhausted fully. He said last year’s remaining budget would be spent by September.
An official release said the Chief Minister, who reviewed various centrally sponsored schemes, also expressed his displeasure over certain departments for not spending the budgetary provision Rs 120 crore in the last financial year.
With the planning commission sanctioning a Rs 6, 800-crore annual plan for Uttarakhand for 2010-11, Nishank noticed that the budgetary allocation for only Rs 5,117 crore in this regard have been made so far. He asked the officials to make provision for the remaining amount.
Expressing concern that the funds were not being sanctioned in time, the Chief Minister asked all the departments to monitor funds spending on a monthly basis.
The Chief Minister warned the Director General Health that he wanted results within one month or otherwise he should get ready to face action.
Taking a review of the announcements made by the Chief Minister since 2007, Nishank was also not satisfied with sluggishness on the new initiatives. Out of the 787 announcements made by the Chief Minister since the BJP government came to power in 2007, the work on only 209 announcements had been completed so far. Nishank asked the officials to remain proactive.
