Punjab yet to use Rs 8,000 crore of central funds, CM Mann asks secys to pull their socks up
The meeting was reminiscent of a similar meeting that the CM chaired on December 23 last year, when he had got upset with the secretaries for not utilising Rs 3,500 crore.
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Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann was chairing a meeting with the administrative secretaries of all the departments at his residence. (File photo)With the state managing to utilise only Rs 3,000 crore from Rs 11,000 crore worth central grants for different departments in the ongoing fiscal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann Wednesday asked administrative secretaries to explain how they propose to save the remaining fund from getting lapsed.
Mann was chairing a meeting with the administrative secretaries of all the departments at his residence. Sources present in the meeting said CM asked as to how the officials plan to to save Rs 8,000 crore from being returned to the Centre.
The secretaries, it is learnt, told the CM that they would be able to utilise the money in the next four months of the current fiscal as tenders for most of the works have already been opened and, in many cases, the work was in progress.
The meeting was reminiscent of a similar meeting that the CM chaired on December 23 last year, when he had got upset with the secretaries for not utilising Rs 3,500 crore. This year, the unutilised amount is more than double that amount but the CM chose to hear the officials patiently.
“He asked the secretaries to pull up their socks and expedite projects where this money is to be spent. The meeting was called by the CM to push the secretaries to utilise the grants as soon as possible,” said a source, privy to the meeting.
The secretaries told the CM that they were not getting central funds under several schemes. The officials also reiterated that with Centre not yet clearing the Rural Development Fee (RDF), the repair work of rural roads, damaged by the floods, was badly hampered.
The health department conveyed that the grants meant for health schemes were also being stopped by the Centre due to state government calling its health centres as Aam Aadmi Clinics.
The CM, it is learnt, has called another meeting on Thursday to ask the secretaries about the funds that has been stopped by the Centre. “The CM will now prepare a strategy on to how to get such funds from the Centre,” said an official.
The Punjab government has already moved the Supreme Court over the non payment of RDF by the Centre.
Meanwhile, as per an official statement, Mann asked the officials to ensure that the benefits of pro-people and development-oriented schemes of his government are percolated to every eligible person.
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