93 pc of annual Plan projects get  govt nod

The remaining 7 pc of the projectThe government intends to chart a new course in annual plan implementation by completing the administrative sanction process by September, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vija

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The government intends to chart a new course in annual plan implementation by completing the administrative sanction process by September, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said here on Thursday. Already, various departments have spent 40.36 per cent of the state annual plan for 2017-18. This is a significant improvement from previous years. Last year, only 21 per cent of the funds could be utilised till this period, the Chief Minister said after chairing a meeting to assess the progress of the annual plan implementation. 

The government has already given administrative sanction for 93 per cent of the projects for this year.
 The remaining seven per cent of the projects will be given administrative sanction by October itself. The annual plan fund for 2017-18 is `34,538 crore. Out of this, `20,272 crore is the state’s share. Over 40 per cent of the state share has been utilised till date. While the allocation for local bodies is `6,277 crore, the Central allocation is `8,039 crore. The spending by local bodies this year is 21 per cent when compared to one per cent during the same period last year. 

If the Central Government allocation is taken into account, 29 per cent of the funds have been spent when compared to 17 per cent last year. Thirty four per cent of the `34,538 crore has been utilised. Last year, the overall spending was only 16 per cent. The LDF Government has put an end to the usual practice of random spending at the fag end of the financial year. The Chief Minister is engaged in reviewing projects once every three months. With the granting of administrative sanction in September, the government gets six months to implement the projects which in turn improves the efficiency of the annual plan implementation.  Among the various government departments, the major delay is seen in the construction projects undertaken by the Public Works Department. 

The delay is noticed in the construction of small offices and multi-storey buildings as well. The Chief Secretary has been tasked with giving suggestions on how the situation could be changed. 
The Chief Minister urged all departments to submit Nabard-related projects at an early stage. The projects should be designed in such a manner that tender process can start as soon as the Nabard gives approval. 
Those projects which have not got an approval of the KIIFB could be submitted before Nabard. The Chief Minister also directed departments to ensure that not a single paisa of Central funds goes unutilised.


The Chief Minister will also assess separately 85 projects each of which costs `10 crore or more. By December, 67 per cent of the funds should be spent and only 33 per cent should remain unspent for the last three months, the Chief Minister said.Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac, Chief Secretary K M Abraham, Chief Minister’s Principal Secretary Nalini Netto, Chief Minister’s Principal Secretary (Coordination) V S Senthil, Chief Minister’s Officer on Special Duty M Sivasankar and secretaries of various departments participated in the meeting.

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