KBK ignored; no funds in Union Budget

The Pioneer, July 12, 2009
PNS | Bhubaneswar

AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi visited KBK district last year twice and it was hoped that the Centre would continue to put stress on the development of the KBK areas. But, it has been proved wrong. The Union Budget has ignored the interest of the KBK. “As the Centre did not find adequate time to prepare a full-time Budget, it was overlooked and unable to provide funds for KBK,” said Planning Commission member Abhijeet Sen. However, he vouched his support for the extension of the KBK scheme. He was here to take a review on the expenditure of the Plan outlay.

After taking a review with the State Government officials on Saturday at the State Secretariat, Prof Sen said all the States were now demanding for more central funding. “We are examining all these issues. The funds would be provided taking the needs and requirement of the concerned State,” he said.

However, during the review it came to light that the State Government was able to spend only 6 per cent of the total Plan outlay. Last year, the State was able to spent 100.96 per cent of the Plan outlay. “The minimal spent of the Plan outlay was because of the election activities,” pointed out a senior official.

The Plan outlay for this year is pegged at Rs 9,500 crore. However, during the first three months, it was able to spend only Rs 523.52 crore which was only 6.90 per cent of the total Plan outlay. During the last year, the Plan outlay was Rs 7,500 crore. But the State exceeded in spending the amount and spent Rs 7,571.83 crore.

Talking to mediapersons here, Special Secretary State Planning and Co-ordination RV Singh said the State had already submitted a proposal for the KBK. “We have asked for Rs 4,550 crore for the KBK to carry out developmental programmes in the coming eight years. But the Planning Commission has not yet given its nod to the programme,” he said, adding that if the proposal is accepted, the State would allocate its share.

As per the information available, Forest -15.95 per cent , Health-0.09, Higher Education- 2.85, Housing and Urban Development-0.21, Agriculture-6.12 Commerce- 4.30, Cooperative – 3.45, Culture-0.01, Information and Public Relation- 3.27, Information and Technology- 17.35, Labour and Employment-0.25, Panchayati Raj-4.54, Planning and Co-ordination- 0.03, Rural Development- 11.76, Steel and Mines- 0.31, Water Resources- 5.85, Transport- 9.70, Women and Child Development- 15.87, Works Department spent 10.92 per cent of the total plan out lay. Energy, Excise, Finance, General Administration, Home, Industry, Law, Public Sector, Revenue and Disaster Management, Science and Technology departments were unable to spend a single pie.