Patna, Nov. 11: The Planning Commission has approved the Rs 28,000 crore annual plan of Bihar for the current fiscal (2012-13) with some revision in the funds to be allocated to different sectors.

The plan panel did not tinker with the state’s overall plan proposal sent to the commission in June. But it made some changes to the Bihar government’s proposed funds to be allocated to different sectors (see table).

The state government recently received a formal letter from the commission in this regard.

Against the Rs 28,000 crore plan sanctioned for Bihar for the year 2012-13, the Centre is likely to contribute about 25 per cent (Rs 7,173.59 crore) of the plan expenditure for the state.

A senior state government official closely associated with the planning process told The Telegraph: “The commission makes changes in the sector-wise allocation at the time of approval of the annual plan document, keeping in mind the funds earmarked by the Centre for different sectors. Now, we shall make the necessary changes in the annual plan document.”

He, however, maintained that the state would not face much problem in making the changes in accordance with the approved document of the commission because the modifications made by the latter were not major.

“In anticipation of the approval of the plan, we have allocated funds to different government departments. For the remaining period of the financial year, funds would be released in accordance with the plan approved by the commission,” added the official.

While the government managed to get its proposed annual plan size approved, its move to usher in advance planning on the expenditure front by the government departments has failed to deliver the desired result.

The finance department had issued letters to all the departments in August to make an expenditure calendar, having monthly details of the funds the departments intended to spend under different schemes and in different districts.

“So far, we have received the expenditure calendar of the road construction department only,” finance department principal secretary Rameshwar Singh told The Telegraph.

He said the idea of the expenditure calendar was floated to overcome a handicap under a new system introduced in 1998. According to it, a financial year is divided into three equal parts of four months. If a department wants to spend more than a third of the funds earmarked for it in any of the four-month blocks, it has to seek permission from the finance department.

“We do give special permission in case any department needs to spend more than one-third of the fund in three blocks of the four-month period but it has to be done following certain procedures. Submission of annual expenditure calendar would have freed the departments from this limitation,” Singh said.

Giving reasons for non-submission of the annual expenditure calendar, the secretary of a department said: “Though the system of the expenditure calendar appears very simple, in reality it is just the opposite and a time-consuming affair. We could not carry out the exercise till now because of the pressure of the routine work.”

The heads of some other departments, who failed to formulate their annual expenditure calendar almost three months after the finance department issued the letter in this regard, aired similar views.