Patna, March 30: The state government did not fix any timeframe to avoid expenditure in haste, popularly known as March loot, on Saturday, the last day of this financial year.

The government had stopped the functioning of the treasury by 2pm on March 31, 2012, the last day of financial year 2011-12, to avoid expenditure in haste. This time, it allowed the treasuries to function in a routine manner on Saturday as there was no rush for withdrawals or clearance of bills. The state spent Rs 23,100 crore till March 22 this year against total plan outlay of Rs 25,200 crore in 2012-13.

The plan size was reduced from Rs 28,000 crore to Rs 25,200 crore for 2012-13 owing to sluggish growth of Indian economy and slow funds flow from the Centre.

“There is no timeframe fixed for the functioning of treasuries across the state. It rather depends on the load of bills but we expect that bills would be accepted till 2-3pm at the treasuries and passed thereafter. All the district magistrates issued instructions a few days in advance to avoid the last-minute rush for clearance of bills,” finance department principal secretary Rameshwar Singh told The Telegraph.

On treasuries remaining open on Sunday (March 31), Singh said: “Bills would be accepted at the treasuries on Saturday and those getting cleared could be withdrawn on Sunday. Treasuries would also accept receipts, as it would bring revenue to the government but certainly no bills would be passed for payment on Sunday.”

On the lines of banks, the government is contemplating to clear the bills for payments till March 30 and subsequently, March 31 would be the last day for getting withdrawals against bills from next year.