New Delhi: Admitting that budget estimates and revised estimates of its different organisations and divisions remain unrealistic, the Union Home Ministry in a circular has asked the account heads to undertake a thorough assessment of ground realities to arrive at accurate projections in all cases.
"Time and again, the audit and the PAC have observed that the budget estimates and revised estimates are unrealistic, that the supplementary demands obtained from Parliament have not been fully utilised. Re-appropriation of funds is made at will which is often infructuous," the ministry said.
"In order to obviate such a scenario, ground realities should be kept in mind while reviewing and firming up proposals for revised estimates 2020-21 and budget estimates 2021-22," the ministry added.
The ministry has asked to prioritise and activities and schemes.
Also read: Common man suffers as petrol price increases in Delhi
"Identify such activity and schemes which can be eliminated and reduced in size and merged with any other schemes," it said.
"Past experience of achieving targets (both physical and financial) and bottlenecks, if any, should be taken into account," the ministry said in its circular.
It said that in case of new projects and schemes, the anticipated time to obtain final approval of the competent authority, expected time lag for implementation, institutional capacity to implement as per schedule, constraints or incurring expenditure by the agencies, should be duly factored in.
The circular added that the proposals, including those in respect of CAPFs, CPO and subordinate offices, along with detailed justification, duly approved by their respective administrative divisions should be submitted by September 25.
The Ministry of Finance will soon call for detailed proposals for revised estimates 2020-21 (revenue and capital) and budget estimates 2021-22 (revenue and capital).
"In order to meet strict deadlines, it is highly advisable that the budget allocations available of BE 2020-21 are reviewed and the trend of expenditure, work etc and realistic estimates are worked out for inclusion in the proposals for RE 2020-21 and BE 2021-22," the circular said.
Also read: EXCLUSIVE: Expanding MGNREGA is the need of the hour, says economist Jean Drèze
Statistics said that allocation to the MHA has been increased to Rs 1,67,250 crore in 2020-21 from Rs 1,19,025 crore in 2019-20.
The increase was done on account of grants provided by the Ministry to the newly formed union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
