CS reviews 2024-25 budget utilisation progress

Srinagar, May 28: Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo Tuesday convened a meeting with the Administrative Secretaries to review progress on the utilisation of funds released after the passing of Vote on Account (VoA) for 2024-25 besides assessing Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) implementation in Jammu and Kashmir.

Dulloo took stock of the works being uploaded by each department on BEAMS and the funds released on this account.

He enquired about the expenditure made, so far, and the progress on completion of these works.

The Chief Secretary impressed upon the Administrative Secretaries to review the list of works of their respective departments on BEAMS and remove the long-pending incomplete projects from the portal. He asked for further streamlining the fund releases on BEAMS so that the seasonal activities in the Agriculture Production Department and land acquisition through the Revenue and Forest Departments are culminated in time.

Dulloo asked the officers to lay focus on funding critical projects transferred from JKPCC  to PWD so that are completed at the earliest.

He also asked for pacing up the expenditure on NABARD-funded works to access more tranches from this organisation.

The chief secretary also reviewed the JKIDFC-funded projects and asked for adjusting the rest of the funding of incomplete projects out of the regular budget.

He emphasised exploring the possibility of taking up works on critical village infrastructure including ensuring the last field irrigation facilities under convergence with MGNREGA.

Regarding the collection of non-tax revenue, the chief secretary emphasised the officers to step up efforts to further increase it from that of the previous year.

He called for making this collection more efficient by employing technology and other requisite measures.

In his presentation, Principal Secretary, Finance, Santosh D Vaidya threw light on different aspects of this year’s budget.

He also gave a brief analysis of its spending during the past decade right from 2014-15. He elaborated on the current expenditure trends registered, so far, in J&K.

The other major features of the presentation included expenditure-wise categorisation of works, delays recorded in their completion, revenue, capital, and own resources expenditure besides highlighting the issues concerning each scheme and the department hampering the smooth execution of projects.

The meeting was apprised that both the completion of projects and the budget have witnessed a quantum jump during the past 5 to 6 years.

It was revealed that the total expenditure during 2014-15 was just Rs 35681 crore which increased to Rs 87501 crore during 2023-24.

It was added that the capital expenditure also escalated from a mere Rs 9330 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 22628 crore in 2023-24.

The meeting was also informed about the receipts and expenditures made under CSS during the past few years.

It was disclosed that the departments here have received a sum of Rs 10324 crore under 110 schemes for 2023-24 which was almost double the amount received during 2021-22.

About this year’s budget, it was informed that the total receipts registered to date stand at Rs 9993 crore with an expenditure of around Rs 11465 crore.

The parliament passed the VoA for J&K pending passage of the regular budget given the conduct of Lok Sabha elections in the country.