West Bengal Government: Pressure from Lakshmir Bhandar, Kanyashree? Reining in expenses to save the state’s treasury.
West Bengal Government: The state government has decided to reduce the upper expenditure limit for various departments. A recent directive has stated that from now on, various departments will not be able to spend more than a specified amount on their projects. The reasons behind this decision are the pressure on the state’s financial condition and the effort to bring transparency to project expenditures. According to a top official from Nabanna, some departments were spending excessively without considering the state of the treasury, which made this step necessary.
New Upper Limit for Expenditure
According to the new directive, the upper limit for expenditure has been fixed for various departments. Let’s see how much has been allocated for each department:
- For major departments like Public Works, Irrigation, Panchayat & Rural Development, Health & Family Welfare, and Urban Development, the upper expenditure limit has been reduced from ₹5 crore to ₹3 crore.
- For the North Bengal Development, Sundarban Development, and Western Region Development departments, this limit has been reduced from ₹3 crore to ₹1 crore.
- For departments like Housing, MSME, and Information & Culture, the new upper limit is ₹75 lakh.
- For all other remaining departments, the maximum expenditure limit has been set at ₹50 lakh.
Why this decision?
The state government is currently bearing the cost of several central government schemes. With funds from the central government for schemes like the 100-day work scheme, housing, and rural road schemes having stopped, the state itself has to bear the expenses. In addition to this, the state government also runs several social welfare schemes like ‘Lakshmir Bhandar’ and ‘Kanyashree’, which are creating immense pressure on the exchequer. In this situation, the state government has taken this decision to control expenses and maintain financial discipline.
Project Clearance
The directive, signed by Finance Secretary Prabhat Kumar Mishra, also states that the approval of the respective department’s advisor is now mandatory for every project’s clearance. This will allow for a more detailed review of the project’s cost and effectiveness. It is believed that the implementation of this new rule will bring more transparency to the state’s financial management.
