The state finance department has allowed expenditure on acquisition and purchase of land by government departments, the first such relaxation since Nabanna imposed a blanket ban on all non-Covid-19 expenses.

An order issued by finance secretary H.K. Dwivedi on August 17 said that in partial modification of an earlier order, all expenditures on land acquisition and purchase would be allowed with prior approval of competent authority.

Sources in the state administration said the August 17 order held significance as it made it clear the government was set to give a big push to projects that had got stalled midway because of Covid-19.

The timing of the order is also significant, feels officials, as it was issued just ahead of the chief minister’s district review meetings, which would start from Monday through video conference.

“A lot of ongoing projects of departments like public health engineering, irrigation and public works have come to a halt because of unavailability of land. The exemption given by the finance secretary would help the departments go for purchase of the land required for the projects,” said a senior government official.

The chief minister’s office and the chief secretary’s office have asked the district magistrates to send progress reports on the ongoing projects ahead of the meeting. “The reports have started reaching Nabanna. The reports hinted that many projects could not be completed as land could not be arranged,” said a bureaucrat.

Sources also said Mamata Banerjee was keen on completing the projects by year-end so that their benefits could reach people before the 2021 Assembly polls.

The pending projects include pipeline-based water supply to homes, repair and restoration of several district roads and embankments and connecting farmland to irrigation facilities. “The projects don’t need huge quantum of land,” said a source.

A senior bureaucrat, however, said lifting the ban alone would not help the districts at all. “The finance department has to allot funds for the land purchase. But I am not sure whether the government would be able to release funds immediately to buy land for projects given that the state’s revenue generation has dried up significantly since April.”