‘Congress govt spent ₹3.4k cr without budget in last fiscal’

Chandigarh: Pointing out that the previous Punjab government of the Congress spent Rs 3,492 crore in the year 2021-22 without setting aside this money in the original budget or supplementary demands, the comptroller and auditor general (CAG) has advised the state government to prepare realistic financial estimates backed by correct assessment of resources and potential.In its report tabled during the Vidhan Sabha’s ongoing budget session on Tuesday, the CAG has claimed that Punjab’s budgetary system was not up to the mark in the last financial year, as the money’s overall utilisation was 70.55% of grants and appropriations. Manpreet Singh Badal was finance minister between 2017 and 2022.The report reads that: “There were savings under several grants. In 24 cases, augmentation of money provision by re-appropriation orders proved unnecessary, because the expenditure did not come even to the budgeted level. Anticipated savings of Rs 10,794 crore were not surrendered, leaving no scope for utilising these funds for other purposes.”It came to the fore that Rs 4,699 crore of savings under 17 grants and seven appropriations were not surrendered, while the savings under some grants were surrendered on the last day of March 2022. Under seven major heads, more than 50% of the expenditure was done in March 2022. The audit revealed that the allocations based on unrealistic proposals that overstretched the potential of resource mobilisation, besides poor monitoring, weak implementation, lack of internal control, were behind an expenditure rush at the fag-end of that year. Excessive savings under some heads deprived the other departments of funds.
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