BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday directed Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh to take action against officials for not spending funds allocated to various corporations under the Social Welfare Department. “The government has allocated Rs 446 crore to the corporations of which only Rs 260 crore has been spent on beneficiaries of various schemes,’’ he said at a review meeting of the department here.
Siddaramaiah said with the financial year coming to an end soon, Dr Ambedkar Corporation has Rs 200 crore and Bhovi corporation Rs 107 crore unspent. Other corporations too have not spent crores of rupees allocated to them. “Managing directors of those corporations should be issued notices immediately. If they do not give proper replies, they should be suspended,’’ he said.
Criticising the officials, the CM said keeping funds till the end of the financial year is a bad practice. In the 2024-25 budget, the government allocated Rs 5,377 crore to various corporations. Of the allocation, Rs 3,671 crore has been released. But the officials spent only Rs 2,892 crore. “If needed, errant officials should be suspended,’’ he added.
“Do not wait till March-end. Spend the funds cautiously on time. This will help beneficiaries,” he told the officials.
The CM also directed the officials to ensure that scholarships for SSLC students are paid by September. For post-matric students, scholarships should be paid by November. Of the Rs 164 crore released towards scholarships for pre-matric students, Rs 105 crore has been spent. The officials have spent Rs 230 crore released to post-matric students, achieving the target on time, he said.
Stating that the government wants to open residential schools in all hoblis, he said, “We have 841 such schools. The government has plans to open such schools in 92 hoblis in the next two years. All taluks will have PU residential colleges in the coming years.”
The CM told the officials to ensure quality food and other facilities to the students of residential hostels. There should be a system to monitor students’ health and nutrition intake in residential schools, he said.