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Bihar elections: Schemes in place but money not being used - constantly!
As with every election, leaders and hopefuls in Bihar are currently busy making promises. The question voters should ask is: even if the promises are kept, is the money allocated to schemes actually being used?A Comptroller and Auditor General of India report released on July 24 found some 'major cases of non-utilisation of the entire budget provision (Rs 100 crore and above) amounting to Rs 7,567.93 crore in 20 Scheme Head of Accounts'. The report is based on 2023-24 highest unutilised fund, Rs 1,628 crore, was for the second phase of the Swachh Bharat Mission. Next to this was an unused Rs 1,500 crore for the Indira Awaas Yojana, which provides grants for housing construction to poor people. Additionally, there's an unused amount of Rs 1,387.52 crore related to various health schemes. Notably, a separate CAG report recently highlighted the extremely grim situation of healthcare in the state.
Despite that, the funds for health-related works recommended by the Finance Commission, infrastructure maintenance under the National Health Mission, renovation of health centres under Saat Nishchaya-2 and construction of buildings of health sub-centres under the NABARD-sponsored scheme were completely Read | Why healthcare needs to be centre stage in Bihar electionsOther major schemes include Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana with Rs 1,100 crore unused, Rs 849.84 crore unused for financial aid to colleges and non-government schools, the National Rural Drinking Water Programme with Rs 336 crore of unused funds, and UNDERUSEDWhile many grants remained completely unutilised, many others were only half used. Among the large schemes worth Rs 1,000 crore and more, essential departments such as agriculture, education, home, disaster management, etc., saw unused funds consistently since than Rs 10,000 crore remained unutilised as grants for education every year between FY20 and FY24. In terms of share of the full budget, nearly 53 per cent of the grants in rural development were left unused in FY24 and around 47 per cent of the grants in agriculture and disaster management were left unused CAG report suggests that the consistent underutilisation of funds is mainly due to overbudgeting, lack of proper expenditure planning, bureaucratic delays, poor accountability and weak financial controls.- EndsTune InMust Watch
