Ranchi: The Jharkhand assembly on Friday passed with voice vote the third supplementary budget worth Rs 1,448.61 crore for this fiscal, even as the opposition questioned the need for it when there is little over a month left for the year to end.
A supplementary budget is tabled to allocate funds to meet unforeseen expenditures that were not included in the budget presented for that year.
The opposition members, lead by JVM-P legislator Nirbhay Shahabadi said there was no need for a supplementary budget in the current fiscal when “the government coffers are already brimming with unused budgetary provisions.”
Meanwhile, the speaker disallowed a cut motion moved by the opposition members, stalling any chance of amendment in the supplementary budget.
According to the opposition, the government has been able to spend only 26% of the provisions made in Rs 16,800-crore original budget.
Shahabadi said several departments have not made allotments for implementation and execution of the projects and schemes for which provisions were made in the original budget.
Satyendra Nath Tiwari, another JVM-P legislator, presented a dismal record of spending by various department of the government.
He said the agriculture department has so far spent only 13.26% of Rs 542 crore allotted for it. Similarly, he said the animal husbandry department spent just 56%, the cooperative department spent 1% (of Rs 57 crore), drinking water and sanitation department spent 39% (of Rs 350 crore), food and civil supplies department spent 32% of (Rs 965 crore), health department spent 44% (of Rs 655 crore), home department spent 26% (of Rs 152 crore) and energy department spent 18% (of Rs 1,001 crore) of the amount allotted to them in the budget.
Satyendra Nath Tiwari, another JVM-P legislator, presented a dismal record of spending by various department of the government.
He said the agriculture department has so far spent only 13.26% of Rs 542 crore allotted for it. Similarly, he said the animal husbandry department spent just 56%, the cooperative department spent 1% (of Rs 57 crore), drinking water and sanitation department spent 39% (of Rs 350 crore), food and civil supplies department spent 32% of (Rs 965 crore), health department spent 44% (of Rs 655 crore), home department spent 26% (of Rs 152 crore) and energy department spent 18% (of Rs 1,001 crore) of the amount allotted to them in the budget.
Tiwari said the worst performing departments were social welfare with a 5.7% spending out of the Rs 718 crore allocation and disaster management department with a less than 1% spending of its Rs 5 crore allocations. Meanwhile, the housing department failed to even open its account.
BJP legislator Satyanad Jha also spoke against the supplementary budget while Lobin Hembrom of the JMM, Janardan Paswan of RJD and Rajesh Ranjan of Congress spoke in favour of the budget.
Finance minister Rajendra Prasad Singh refuted the opposition charges and said the central funds meant for Union-sponsored schemes were being diverted for other purposes and the supplementary budget was necessary to fund the ongoing development schemes.