Thiruvananthapuram: Finance minister Dr T.M. Thomas Isaac had everything in place to give plan fund utilisation an excellent start. Yet, utilisation during the first quarter (from April to June) was just 2.21 percent, worse than all of Mani’s years. Utilisation has picked up in July, but it is no better than the UDF tenure.
Dr Isaac was keen to get things going early this year. Sanction for projects worth Rs 1,500 was given even before the full Budget was passed on May 18. What’s more, the Panchayat Plan Formulation Guidelines (usually brought out during June) was released on April 2. As a consequence, more than 75 percent of local body plan had been finalised before June 15. But on July 15, the utilisation of local bodies remained a paltry 7 percent.
Of the 39 departments (not counting local bodies) only four have crossed 20 percent utilisation; PWD (31.60 percent), Sports and Youth Affairs (48.72 percent); Personnel & Administrative Reforms (41.63 percent); Power (24.98 percent). The unfortunate reality is, utilisation is below 10 percent in 28 departments. “Even a high-spending department like Tourism belong to this sub-10 percent category.
“Like PWD, the Tourism Department has always been effective in utilising plan funds. But they have intriguingly put up a weak performance,” a top Department official said. By the end of November it is only 23 percent.
Departments that have a close bearing on the lives of the people – Transport, Social Justice, and Water Resources – have also fared badly. Water Resources, which has the highest allocation (Rs 1,875.25 crore) after the total devolution to local bodies, has managed not even 15 percent. Transport and Social Justice fared even worse, 1.1 and 8.36 percent respectively. Spending for scheduled castes, which too is allocated a high amount of Rs 1,464.49 crore, too is a paltry 10 percent.
“The ground has been prepared for them but departments seem not to have acquired the skill of preparing detailed project reports,” a top Finance Department official said.
