Total ban on engagement of casual, need based workers
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Feb 3: Twenty-three day long exercise of debate on budget followed by grants of various Ministries culminated today with Legislative Assembly approving with voice vote Rs 95666.97 crore worth budget as Finance Minister Dr Haseeb Drabu announced wide-ranging expenditure and fiscal reforms for the Financial Year of 2018-19.
After Assembly’s nod to Budget 2018-19 and Supplementary Grants for 2017-18 in the form of Appropriation bills, the twin bills would now go to the Legislative Council for approval after which the budget will get Legislature nod and expenditure reforms announced by the Finance Minister would be set-in.
This was for the first time in history of the State Legislature that the Finance Minister has linked the appropriation bill with wide- ranging expenditure reforms to ensure checks and balances for efficient fiscal management and speed up spending to make productive use of resources for the larger public good.
Drabu on January 11 had presented the budget proposals for 2018-19 in the House, comprising a revenue component of Rs 51,244.72 crore and capital component of Rs 44,422.24 crore.
Enumerating the fiscal reforms factored in the Appropriation Bill this year, Drabu said the Finance and the Planning, Development and Monitoring Department (PDMD) would release both revenue and capital budget to all the departments within two weeks of the passage of the Appropriation Bill.
The Administrative Departments would, in turn, ensure release of funds to the subordinate offices within four weeks of their receipt, failing which these funds would be deemed to have been transferred to the intended Drawing and Disbursing Offices on the dates they ought to have been released by the Administrative Departments or Controlling Officers.
“The Planning Development and Monitoring Department will ensure that all plan allocations to be made in the next fiscal bear proper classification, indicating, name of the work or scheme against detailed head-115 works,” he said adding in the absence of the schematic classification, the relevant Capex release shall be deemed as invalid and not open to being operationalization.
The Finance Minister said no payments would be made by any Treasury or Pay and Accounts Office (PAO) from April 1, under any expenditure head, if the releases for the same have not been made and further received by the spending and bill passing officers via Budget Estimation Allocation Management System (BEAMS). Treasury Officers/PAOs shall be personally liable for making payments on the funds released and received bypassing the BEAMS application, he added.
In another significant decision, Drabu announced that henceforth, there will be no engagement of casual and need based workers by any Department.
“The Planning, Monitoring and Development Department shall, invariably, condition all developmental/plan releases to the departments to the unconditional vouchsafing by the latter that they shall refrain from making fresh engagements,” he added.
The Finance Minister said the Planning Development and Monitoring Department will mandatorily upload department-wise `Name of the Schemes/Works/Projects, forming part of the Capex budget for the fiscal years of 2018-19, or, as per the format notified from time to time along with respective allocations on its website.
“Only such works will be authorized for execution, which have prior administrative approval, technical sanction and appropriate financial back-up. Expenditure monitoring across all departments will be done on a real time basis through PFMS,” the Finance Minister said.
He said the expenditure reforms across the departments shall further be strengthened by initiating measures including bringing complete transparency in the financial and administrative processes through increased IT interventions, ensuring authorization of such works for execution only which have prior administrative approval, technical sanction and appropriate financial back up and ensure expenditure monitoring on real-time basis through BEAMS and PFMS.
“The procurement plans of the departments for the next fiscal shall be limited by an outermost cap of 60 days, starting April 1. From conceiving the nature and quantity of public goods and services to be procured to preparing tenders/RFQs/EoIs to finally awarding the contract, the departments shall compulsorily finish the whole process by May 30, 2018,” he said and added that any spill-over in timelines shall be automatically visited with the appropriate disciplinary actions.
The Finance Minister made it clear that the funds shall be spent only on the approved items of the expenditure and strictly for the purpose they have been released. “There shall be no re-appropriation of funds except where the departments have spent 55% of funds received ending December 2017,” he said and added “where their spending levels are below 55%, the remaining 70% funds shall lapse to the Government”.
He said the expenditure during the last quarter shall be restricted to not more than 30% of the Revised Estimates. “Treasury Officers shall have an added responsibility to ensure that the departments are held responsible to the above expenditure ceiling,” he said.
Dr Drabu said the State share of the Centrally Sponsored Schemes and the expenditure to be incurred on utility shifting, land compensation etc under PMDP projects shall be the first charge on the funds lapsing to the Government during the last quarter.
Drabu said it is reassuring to note that a broader political consensus is emerging in Jammu and Kashmir to put in place a viable economic framework, a robust fiscal management structure and an achievable budgetary policy.
He added that the fiscal reforms introduced over the past three years are aimed at bringing stabilization in the state’s economy and reduce volatility for economic revival through enhanced investments, public expenditure and widening the net of socio-economic security.
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