Ranchi: Ahead of the commencement of the budget session of state assembly from February 25, former Union finance minister (state) and BJP MP from Hazaribag, Jayant Sinhaon Thursday lashed out at Jharkhand government for poor utilization of available funds despite availability of enough resources and continuous assistance from the centre.
“Rather than prioritising rational use of available funds and budget in proper development of this state, this government often rues lack of assistance from the Center to divert attention from its failures,” he said, addressing a press conference at the party office in the afternoon. .
Citing a few figures, he said in the 2021-22 fiscal, the state government has around Rs 91,277-crore budget of which about Rs 39,942 crore was from the Center in the form of grants. “Compared to last year, it is a hike of 19.62% assistance from the Centre. This apart, the state received around Rs 7,000 crore under district mineral foundation trust (DMFT) funds,” he said, adding that the government, however, has failed to utilize them effectively.
Alleging poor fiscal management, he said for the first time in the last five years, the state has now recorded Rs 900 crore less revenues. “Not only this, Jharkhand’s capital expenditure is worst in the country. Adjoining states like Chattisgarh, Bengal and Odisha have spent 19% of their total budget on capital expenditure but in Jharkhand, it is barely 17%. This is proof enough that the state’s focus isn’t on building infrastructure such as roads, health facilities etc,” he said, adding that better capital expenditure doesn’t just help the state in creating new assets but it also leads to job generation.
Sinha, who represents the Hazaribag parliamentary seat, said the state has failed in expenditure in social welfare schemes too. “For example, in 2021-22, the state received over Rs 800 crore for health infrastructure from central grants, but it failed to upgrade the health apparatus here. According to Niti Aayog‘s report in 2019-20, Jharkhand stands 13 among 19 big states on health index,” he claimed.
“Under women and child welfare department-run nutrition scheme, out of Rs 75 crore, the state could only spend Rs 22 crore so far. In agriculture, out of several centrally assisted schemes worth Rs 100 crore, the state could complete only 34% of projects/schemes so far,” he said, adding that poor fiscal management is evident across all the departments of the state government.
“Rather than prioritising rational use of available funds and budget in proper development of this state, this government often rues lack of assistance from the Center to divert attention from its failures,” he said, addressing a press conference at the party office in the afternoon. .
Citing a few figures, he said in the 2021-22 fiscal, the state government has around Rs 91,277-crore budget of which about Rs 39,942 crore was from the Center in the form of grants. “Compared to last year, it is a hike of 19.62% assistance from the Centre. This apart, the state received around Rs 7,000 crore under district mineral foundation trust (DMFT) funds,” he said, adding that the government, however, has failed to utilize them effectively.
Alleging poor fiscal management, he said for the first time in the last five years, the state has now recorded Rs 900 crore less revenues. “Not only this, Jharkhand’s capital expenditure is worst in the country. Adjoining states like Chattisgarh, Bengal and Odisha have spent 19% of their total budget on capital expenditure but in Jharkhand, it is barely 17%. This is proof enough that the state’s focus isn’t on building infrastructure such as roads, health facilities etc,” he said, adding that better capital expenditure doesn’t just help the state in creating new assets but it also leads to job generation.
Sinha, who represents the Hazaribag parliamentary seat, said the state has failed in expenditure in social welfare schemes too. “For example, in 2021-22, the state received over Rs 800 crore for health infrastructure from central grants, but it failed to upgrade the health apparatus here. According to Niti Aayog‘s report in 2019-20, Jharkhand stands 13 among 19 big states on health index,” he claimed.
“Under women and child welfare department-run nutrition scheme, out of Rs 75 crore, the state could only spend Rs 22 crore so far. In agriculture, out of several centrally assisted schemes worth Rs 100 crore, the state could complete only 34% of projects/schemes so far,” he said, adding that poor fiscal management is evident across all the departments of the state government.
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