Bhubaneswar, Aug. 4: At a secretary-level meeting, which was presided over by chief secretary Gokul Chandra Pati, it was revealed that only 15 per cent of the state’s budgetary allocation has been spent by June this year.
A review of the state plan expenditure shows that till June Rs 4,909 crore, which is around 15 per cent of the budget estimate, has been spent.
The utilisation in agriculture and allied sectors (water resources, fisheries and animal resource development, co-operation and energy) is Rs 1,098.63 crore, which is around 18 per cent of the budget estimate.
Similarly, funds to the tune of Rs 1,171.59 crore have been utilised this year in building of infrastructure, which is around 17 per cent of estimated budget. The infrastructure sector covers the departments such as works, housing & urban development, rural development and energy.
Expenditure in social sector during current year has been Rs 2,530.54 crore, which is around 17 per cent of the estimated budget. The departments such as school & mass education, ST & SC development, health & family welfare, labour, panchayati raj, employment, training & technical education, women & child development and higher education are covered under this sector.
In his first meeting of this kind after taking charge on Friday, Pati advised formation of secretary level sub-committees to look into implementation of the projects and remove the bottlenecks so that the budget expenditure could be expedited.
Usually, the pace of expenditure during the first quarter (April-June) remains slow, while the departments rush through expenditure in the last quarter (January–March) to meet the target.
It was decided that the Integrated Odisha Treasury Management System (IOTMS) would not admit expenditure in excess of the 40 per cent of the budget during the last quarter of the current year.
The departmental heads explained that the expenditure could have been higher but for the enforcement of model code of conduct for the general elections during this period.
Officials claimed that the plan expenditure was 110 per cent higher than that of the corresponding period of the previous financial year.
Last year, it was 12 per cent during the corresponding period. They also said that the utilisation in agriculture and allied sectors was around 18 per cent against last year’s 10 per cent.
Similarly, the spending in building infrastructure was 17 per cent of estimated budget against the 15 per cent during 2013-14. The expenditure in social sector up to June during the current year was around 17 per cent against the previous year’s 13 per cent.
