KCR’s budget plans go awry, officials say preparation will take time
Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s plans of presenting the 2016-17 Budget before the Union Budget appears to have gone awry. Mr Rao had earlier proposed convening the Budget session of the Legislative Assembly in the last week of January and present the state Budget in the first week of February itself, departing from the tradition of the state presenting its budget after the Union Budget.
Normally, the Union Budget is presented on February 28. In the marathon Cabinet meeting held on Saturday the first four-hour session was dedicated to discussing the Budget preparation exercise.
Sources said that during the discussion, the finance department expressed its inability to complete the exercise with some radical changes proposed by the CM on Budget preparation, this month.
Mr Rao asked officials to allot funds to each sector district-wise, unlike state-wise at present. He also asked them to prepare District Development Cards for the purpose.
At this juncture, finance minister Etela Rajender and senior officials of the department brought to the notice of the CM that it would take at least two months to identify priority sectors in each and every district and allot funds accordingly.
They informed the CM that the Budget, in its conventional format, could be presented by the first week of February as planned, but the changed format would require time, and this would extend the Budget preparation exercise till the third week of February.
“Each district has different priority sectors and different needs for allocation of funds. The respective district ministers were asked to give their references in consultation with district collectors and public representatives like MLAs, MLCs etc. and prepare District Development Cards accordingly. This exercise would take at least five-six weeks till February third week,” said a finance department official.
Officials opined that if the government was keen on presenting the state Budget before the Union Budget, it can still do so but on any day in the fourth week of February and not in the first week of February as planned. Normally, the Appropriation Bill (Budget) that allows the government departments to spend funds from April 1 onwards is approved by the Legislature a day or two prior to closure of the financial year on March 31.
However, the CM has envisaged passage of Appropriation Bill almost 1.5 months earlier than the Union Budget, the aim being to complete the Budget session by February-end and take up execution of Budget plans well in advance. Under the changed circumstances, the Budget session may be convened only in February last week or March first week.
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