It speaks highly of Chandrababu Naidu's ability to recognise talent when he sees it that he is trying to rope in Jairam Ramesh as one of seven members of an economic advisory committee on fiscal management and resource management in Andhra Pradesh. Most others included in the panel are professional economists not affiliated to any political party. As might be expected, the AP Congress party is not flattered by the salute to the expertise of the head of the AICC's economic cell.It is seen, instead, as a sign of the TDP's intellectual bankruptcy. In fact, it is a sign of strength to recognise the shortcomings of his party and government and to find solutions. The advisory panel is a good beginning because Naidu urgently needs advice on how to pull AP out of its financial crisis. But that is only one half of the exercise. As the latest report of the Comptroller and Auditor-General shows, much remains to be done to improve the administration.The guru of government-on-the-net has the right ideas and has been quick to see the advantages of the Internet but there is a long way to go before the full potential is realised. Law and order is one area where he has to make an impact as underscored by the brutal killing of seven Congress workers on Tuesday.Be that as it may, the CAG report criticises the Na-idu government for inefficient management of the state's finances. There has been a general deterioration in state finances all over the country such that it is hard to cite a single state which can be said to be in the pink of health. But what is surprising about AP is the poor budgetary control during 1998-99. While the government was borrowing to meet expenses in some areas and pushing up the fiscal deficit, budgets were lapsing un-utilised in others. During a period when communications with and feedback from district administrations had vastly improved it emerges that one department after another in the social sector was unable to absorb available funds.Something is very wrong when a large segment of allocations for education, health, women and child welfare and rural development cannot be used. Was there a mismatch between programmes and needs? A delay in disbursals or other kinds of bureaucratic bungling? Why did Hyderabad discover the extent of unutilised funds only at the very end of the financial year?A lot of hard work is going to be required on two fronts overall financial management and programme delivery. There is little time to waste. Conditions are likely to be even more difficult for the people of Andhra Pradesh in the current year. A large part of the state encompassing almost 700 rural mandals has been declared drought affected already. If the situation does not improve the government will be faced with more demands on its resources without being able to count on higher revenues. At the same time, the price of subsidised rice has been raised to Rs 5.50 a kilo in response to the hike in central prices. Power tariffs are also likely to be raised.Economic necessity is being cited for these decisions and an effort is being made to explain the issues to people. Politically speaking, a long hot summer lies ahead. Naidu will need all the help he can get from his computers and advisory panel.
