Last day flurry in ministries to reappropriate surrendered funds
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, March 31: The last day of the financial year is turning out to be a busy day for officials in some of the Ministries of the Central government. Some of the ministries had surrendered part of their funds, but some last hour rethinking emerged that the money be reappropriated for expenditure of other departments.
“On the last day of the financial year, demands are being raised in some quarters of a few ministries that the surrendered funds be reappropriated for utilization by other departments of the same ministry. This flurry of waking up on the last day of the financial year is taking place days after funds were surrendered,” said a senior official.
It has been reliably learnt that a few of the ministries could not spend even the revised estimates of their budgets, and thus they had to surrender the funds, which had been duly sanctioned by Parliament for purposes stated in the Budget for the financial year 2022-23. But, sources said, some of the officials have become wary that they may be questioned for not being able to spend the budget allocations.
“Some of the ministries which are dedicated for social sector works have not been able to spend their funds fully. There are various reasons for the inability of the ministries to not spend the funds. But in some quarters it’s being stated that even the revised estimates not being spent fully by the social sector ministries may reflect poorly in the performances of the ministers concerns,” sources said.
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi-headed Central government now into its last year, the thrust as stated had been on saturation of schemes so as to maximize the beneficiaries in the election year. The full details of the funds surrendered by the ministries are yet to be ascertained.
“In one such case of the last minute rush to reappropriate the money, one department came forth with plea that the fund meant for another department of the same ministry which had been surrendered be taken back for its expenditure. This kind of inter-department action is something new, which had not been seen previously and somehow it suggests that the ministers concerned are not exercising enough administrative oversight on the functioning of the departments,” sources added.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is bracing up for year full of elections in 2023, which will lead to the Lok Sabha polls in 2024. The BJP claims to have created a beneficiary class as its electoral constituency.
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