Over 15% expenditure in month of March alone
*Transparent, accountable utilization of resources stressed
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Apr 4: Further exposing financial indiscipline in the Union Territory, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has revealed a massive year-end spending spree by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir, with nearly half of the total annual expenditure incurred in the last quarter of 2024-25.
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The Rule 62(3) of the General Financial Rules (GFR) provides that rush of expenditure, particularly in the closing months of the financial year is regarded as a breach of financial propriety and should be avoided.
However, in blatant violation of the prescribed norms, during 2024-25, 48.76% of the total expenditure was incurred in last quarter of the year and 15.35% in the last month of the year, the CAG said in the report recently tabled in the Legislative Assembly of the Union Territory.
As per the audit, Rs 55,807.01 crore were spent in the final quarter (January to March 2025) alone. Even more alarming, Rs 17,571.70 crore were incurred in March 2025 itself, pointing to an intense last-minute rush to exhaust budgets.
“This is not an isolated aberration but a systemic issue. As many as 23 out of 36 departments spent more than 30 per cent of their total annual expenditure in the last quarter, while 20 departments exceeded the 15 per cent threshold in March alone”, the report said, adding “this is not withstanding the fact that maintaining a steady pace of expenditure is a crucial component of sound public financial management as it prevents fiscal imbalances and temporary cash crunches”.
It is pertinent to mention here that in order to check rush of expenditure at the close of the financial year, UT Government in the month of August 2024 prescribed that expenditure should not exceed 30 per cent in last quarter and 15 per cent during last month of the financial year.
“The expenditure pattern indicates non-adherence to the prescribed financial discipline and reflects deficiencies in expenditure planning and monitoring thereby defeating the objective of maintaining a smooth and even flow of expenditure throughout the financial year”, the supreme audit institution of the country said.
“A deeper analysis of departmental spending further exposes the extent of fiscal mismanagement. The Animal/Sheep Husbandry Department alone incurred 33.16 per cent of its expenditure in the last quarter and 15.87 per cent in March, while the Horticulture Department spent an even higher 33.98 per cent in the final quarter and 19.94 per cent in March-well beyond permissible limits”, the CAG said.
Monthly expenditure trends also revealed sharp spikes towards the end of the year, particularly in March, indicating a pattern of deferred spending followed by hurried disbursement. In fact, the audit notes that the entire expenditure of Rs 18.84 crore under 15 sub-heads was incurred in March 2025 alone, highlighting the extent of last-minute financial activity.
Warning that such year-end spending surges not only compromise transparency but also increase the risk of inefficient or hasty utilization of public funds, the CAG said that maintaining a steady pace of expenditure is critical to sound public financial management, as it helps prevent fiscal imbalances and avoids unnecessary pressure on cash flows.
Pointing towards significant deficiencies in financial planning, execution and control, the CAG stressed that the occurrence of rush of expenditure in March 2025 demonstrated inadequate expenditure control and the high proportion of committed expenditure constrained fiscal flexibility.
“Overall, these shortcomings highlight the need for stronger financial discipline, realistic budgeting and improved monitoring mechanisms to ensure more effective, transparent and accountable utilization of public resources”, the report said.
In the report, the CAG has also expressed serious concern over injudicious re-appropriations, inefficiencies in project implementation, particularly in the Capital section, instances of misclassification of expenditure and supplementary provisions remaining unutilized.
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