BHUBANESWAR: The state government started preparations for the supplementary budget in the winter session of the Assembly by asking all departments to submit their proposals within October 31.
Principal secretary, Finance, Sanjeeb Kumar Mishra in a letter to all additional chief secretaries, principal secretaries and secretaries said the demand for supplementary grants should be need-based and backed by concrete action plans.
Proposals of departments whose expenditure is less than 40 per cent of their original budgetary allocation will not be considered. The condition has been imposed following persistent low spending by several departments. The letter said supplementary proposals must have administrative approval of the department concerned and Finance department concurrence.
Review meetings by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, who holds the Finance portfolio, have pointed out low budget expenditure especially in Works, Rural Development and other social sector departments. Official sources said more than 10 departments had failed to cross 60 per cent utilisation even by mid-March last financial year.
The chief minister had presented a Rs 3.10 lakh crore budget in February. It included programme expenditure of Rs 1.80 lakh crore, about 58.1 per cent of total budget, capital outlay of Rs 72,100 crore, social sector allocation of Rs 1,25,583 crore and economic sector allocation of Rs 1,02,455 crore.
The winter session of the Assembly is likely to be convened in late November or first week of December. Last year, the government had tabled a Rs 17,440 crore supplementary budget to meet additional requirement for welfare schemes and disaster management.
