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Uttaranchal facing problem of plenty

Central funds of Rs. 800 crores out of Rs. 2,700 crores remain unutilised and are about to lapse

Dehra Dun : It is a problem of plenty for Uttaranchal as Central funds of Rs. 800 crores out of Rs. 2,700 crores allotted to the State remains unutilised and on the verge of lapsing.

According to the State Planning Commission, various departments of the State could only utilise Rs. 1,900 crores out of the total amount of Rs 2,700 crores plan outlay provided to the State for the financial year 2005-06 till January.

Many of the departments have only used 50 to 75 per cent of their plan budget while few among them failed to utilise even a minuscule part of the fund till now, Commission sources said.

The Information Technology department in the State is yet to start using its funds even as the current financial year will soon close.

The department only recently issued sanctions to the tune of Rs 42 crores out of Rs 147 crores from its budget after the State Government identified it as its thrust area of development, the sources said.

The Urban Development department has also "not touched" its share of the outlay, Commission sources said.

A progress report by the Commission revealed that the Minor Irrigation Department had only spent Rs 39 crores out of the allocated amount of Rs 137 crores.

The report said that the Energy department has made use of only Rs 188 crores out of its Rs 408 crores outlay, the Horticulture department has utilised 92 crores out of Rs 119.6 crores, Public Works department has spent Rs 349 crores out of 517.23 crores.

Similarly in the Potable Water department only Rs 125.60 crores has been spent out of Rs 233.42 crores, The opposition blamed redtapism in bureaucracy for the unutilised funds and accused the government for not adhering to a timetable for release of funds.

However, Information and PWD Minister Indira Hridayesh hoped that the entire plan-outlay amount would be used up by the end of this March.

"We will achieve the target before the end of the financial year and will spent more than the outlay sanctioned," she said.

It may be recalled that the Uttaranchal annual plan outlay for the current fiscal was pegged at Rs. 2,700 crores, against the Rs 1,865 crores last fiscal. -- PTI

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Uttaranchal facing problem of plenty

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