State to spend 10% less this year, ministers unhappy

Despite senior Congress ministers opposing the idea, the state government will spend 10% less on each department this year.

Despite senior Congress ministers opposing the idea, the state government will spend 10% less on each department this year.

HT Image

On Monday, the cabinet passed a resolution to give a 10% mandatory cut to budgetary allocation of each department. The state will present the budget on March 23.

Some senior Congress ministers such as Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Nitin Raut and Suresh Shetty opposed the move saying that the party had less allocation as compared to its ally the Nationalist Congress Party which has all lucrative departments.

The ministers wanted to know the need of having the cut when the chief minister and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar spoke highly of healthy state finances.

But the chief minister and the deputy chief minister did not approve of the demand. Both insisted that the state had spent a lot on unplanned things last year and they did not expect the revenue to increase as expected next year. In the past few years, various government departments have failed to utilise their entire budget.