BHUBANESWAR: The State government has stressed rationalisation of expenditure on non-priority sectors and completion of unfinished projects on time to avoid unwarranted cost escalation as economic slowdown continues to cast shadow on revenue generation.
After the Supplementary Statement of Expenditure 2020-21 was approved and Appropriation Bill passed, all departments have been asked to complete issue of sanction orders for release of funds as well as surrender of provisions by January 31 so to avoid rush of expenditure in the last month of the financial year.
Principal Secretary of Finance department Ashok K Meena said the instructions have been given to improve quality of public expenditure, contain non-developmental spending and ensure availability of adequate resources for critical priority schemes.
The provision has been made for recoupment of advance taken from Odisha Contingency Fund. In April, the government had increased the corpus of its contingency fund five times from `400 crore to `2,000 crore to meet the expenses for management of Covid-19 pandemic.
“The allotment against recoupment of advance from the contingency fund will not be available and only the sanction order in respect of the recoupment will be sent to the Principal Accountant General by December 31 for adjustment of the advance by the administrative department concerned. The fund limit has once again fixed at `400 crore,” Meena said.
The government has made some changes in classification in the Supplementary Statement of Expenditure as per advice of the Principal Accountant General (A&E). As per the changes, actual expenditure incurred out of the provision made in 2020-21 budget estimates will be written back to the provision made in Supplementary Statement of Expenditure.
The departments have been informed that the last date of submission of bills to the treasuries for 2020-21 is March 16 for claims under other contingencies, machinery, equipment, vehicle, share capital, subsidy and loans and March 23 for other claims. The departments will have to ensure proper classification of expenditure and avoid booking under miscellaneous head as budgetary funds will, in no case, be transferred to civil deposit.
“Steps must be taken for full and effective utilisation of supplementary provision as any unspent balance would invite adverse comments from the audit,” Meena added.