J&K Budget 2025-26 preparation exercise begins

Jammu, Nov 7: The exercise for J&K Budget 2025-26 has begun with the preparation of Budget Estimates (BEs) of 2025-26 and Revised Estimates (REs) of 2024-25.

The J&K Finance Department has set November 20 as the target date for consolidation and submission of these estimates by the departments.

To achieve this target date, the Department has issued directions to complete budget preparation at the level of Drawing and Disbursing Officers (DDOs) and the Heads of Departments (HoDs) by November 11 and November 15, 2024.

After a hiatus of six years, the J&K budget will be presented in its Legislative Assembly in the budget session as and when called by the new government.

At present, the charge of the Finance Department is with the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. Until he gives the charge to somebody else, he is likely to present the maiden budget of the Union Territory of J&K.

In this connection, the Finance Department has directed all the Administrative Departments, HODs, Budget Controlling Officers and DDOs to start the budget preparation exercise for the year 2025-26 “in the right earnest to enable examination, compilation and consolidation of these estimates in the Administrative Departments for onward submission of the same to it (Finance Department).”

“The Administrative Departments shall further carry out due scrutiny of estimates and forward their recommendations to the Finance Department not later than November 20, 2024,” it has been instructed.

Notably, the last budget in the Legislative Assembly of erstwhile J&K State was presented by Dr Haseeb Drabu in January 2018 as the Finance Minister of the PDP-BJP coalition government. Same year the coalition government collapsed and J&K came under the Governor's rule and the 2019-20 J&K budget was adopted by the State Administrative Council (SAC) headed by the then Governor S P Malik.

After the J&K was downgraded to the Union Territory in 2019, five consecutive budgets were presented and passed by the Parliament.

Principal Secretary, J&K Finance Department, Santosh D Vaidya has specified that the budget preparation forms for both the Revenue Budget and Capital budget will be made available to all the field offices as well as the Administrative Departments online through 'Budget Estimation, Allocation and Management System' (BEAMS) only.

“Hard copies of Forms except for B4 (i) and (ii) and project-wise statements shall not be entertained in the Finance Department. The technical assistance in this regard shall be obtained from the PMU Team, Finance Department and the Resource Persons available in each District Treasury,” Vaidya directed.

In this connection, a detailed set of instructions has been issued for the preparation of Budget proposals by the Departments. Besides, they can refer to the budget manual for extant instructions.

In the case of the receipt budget, all revenue-earning departments, big or small, have been asked to furnish the information strictly as per the prescribed format. “It shall also be ensured that targets fixed for revenue shall be achieved in full. Online physical status may be provided to the Finance Department in respect of the Receipt Budget. The receipt position shall be furnished object-wise along with unit rates as collected by the Departments over the last five years. The classification mismatch if any shall also be pointed out by the Departments while furnishing the Receipt Budget,” Vaidya has ordered.

The instructions stipulate that the receipt note should contain ways and means to augment revenues collected by each Department in a precise manner. The autonomous bodies and PSUs being provided grant-in-aid or loans will also provide object-wise revenue receipts collected over the last five years and the current year in a separate statement.

It has been pointed out that huge variations have been noticed by the Finance Department in the actual expenditure of the preceding year as shown by the Departments and the numbers as shown by the Accountant General (A&E) J&K in the Annual Finance Account of that year. “This has been viewed seriously. Care should, therefore, be taken to reflect the correct and duly reconciled expenditure in the specified forms,” Vaidya has ordered.

Similarly, it has been directed that the Budget Estimates will be prepared strictly following the standardised 'detailed heads' as per Government Order No 52-F of 2015, dated April 16, 2015, and no other detailed head will be put to use. In case, if any of the departments puts a detailed head not defined in the order, the same will be summarily disallowed, it has been cautioned.

As per another instruction, Revised Estimates 2024-25 and Budget Estimates 2025-26 will be prepared against sanctioned posts for filled posts only in specified forms without any provision for vacant posts and deputation posts.

Provision for CSS schemes will be made as per the approved action plan. No creation of posts will be anticipated and budgeted for either in Revised Estimates 2024-25 or in Budget Estimates 2025-26 for the ensuing financial year. Accounts for salaries and NPS government contributions for the last six months of the previous financial year will be estimated from September 2023 to February 2024.

All the Administrative Secretaries have been asked to send Budget proposals in respect of each HoD to the Finance Department by the notified date.

The calendar for discussion of Budget proposals of the departments will be issued separately. “The Budget proformas shall be submitted in Soft copies in respect of Revenue and Capex. No proposal shall be accepted if it is not complete in all respects as per guidelines issued,” Vaidya has warned.

The PMU Team has been directed to put in place all the required arrangements for data entry in BEAMS by the DDOs and Budget Controlling Officers at the HoD level and Director Finances and FA&CAOs at the Administrative Departments level.

“Details of migrant posts filled up and vacant posts must be provided, where relevant, both by HoDs of Kashmir Division and their counterpart HoDs in Jammu Division responsible for the disbursement of migrant salary,” instructions specify.

In the case of salaries, the departments will provide the number of temporary posts created for regularisation of pre-1994 daily wagers and the number of such posts which cease to exist by way of retirement or adjustment of regularised workers against normal vacancies, as the case may be beside the number of vacant posts available during the year indicating separately the number of such posts filled on contractual or consolidated or adhoc basis.