Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta today held a meeting of all the Administrative Secretaries to review the performance of different Departments regarding pace of the Developmental works and overall expenditure of Departments during 2022-23.
The meeting was also attended by the officers from the Expenditure Division-I and II besides those of Budget section from the Finance Department. On the occasion Dr Mehta emphasized that the Capex Budget is the actual portion of the budget the utilization of which creates durable public assets.
He emphasised on efficient planning for so that the expenditure outcomes are maximized. He observed that there is manifold increase in number of works completed in recent years and during the past few years the number has grown very substantially.
He urged upon the officers to strategize spending for meeting the targets for completion of works during the current financial year. The Chief Secretary advised the officers to set monthly targets for completion of works so that the March-rush at the fag end of the financial year is avoided here.
He called for setting a timeline for each project and allied activities to be carried under it. He told them to have periodical reviews at their levels to ensure that the timeframe set for each activity is complied with.
He asked them to complete the tendering process of every work against which the Administrative Approval and Technical Sanction has been secured. He also stressed on saturating all the beneficiary oriented schemes especially those regarding self employment as per new demands on ground.
Dr Mehta told them to ensure that the funds earmarked for each work under Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) are timely accessed from GoI Ministries and spent for maximum benefit of public. He emphasised on uploading data on the GoI designated portals simultaneously so that funds are released timely by them and spent by the Departments as per their requirements.
He advised them to seek assistance from IT Department, in case any technical issues are faced by them. He enjoined upon the officers to ensure that uploading of all the works is done at an earliest so that necessary releases are made against each work through BEAMS portal.
He told them to make it a feature to reflect activity wise/scheme wise releases so that everybody has a fair idea about each of the work and activity carried out by the departments. He also encouraged people to be partners in development by taking part through ‘Janbhagidari’ and monitoring their works themselves and provide the feedback.
He expressed that each of the officer in any department should own the responsibility of being a catalyst in furthering the government policies and schemes. He stated that all of us should work with a right frame of mind to achieve better results in a time-bound manner.
He made out that the ‘Whole of Government Approach’ is the cornerstone for percolation of benefits down to the grassroots level as per the aims and aspirations of general public. The Chief Secretary also took note of the number of works completed previous financial year.
He urged the Planning Department to come up with the E-Compendium of all these completed works like that of Districts at an earliest. He made out that the set target for completion of works this year should be met without any fail.
He also urged them to achieve all the deliverables set for each of the department by following them with due urgency and application. The Chief Secretary was informed that under UT Capex about 40510 works are going on currently out of which 32615 works are going to be completed at the end of this financial year.
It was also revealed that under CSS a total of 19828 works would be taken in hand including the new ones out of which 17102 works are slated to be completed this year. Similarly under District Capex the number of works to be taken up in different districts of the UT is 48454 for the year 2023-24.
The funds are being released to the concerned DCs for taking them up and many of them had already been tendered out during past couple of months. It was also given out that around 22837 works were completed under UT Capex alone last year.
It was added that an E-Compendium of these works would be put in public domain shortly as was done by Districts depicting the works done under District Capex 2022-23. Such measures are going to enhance transparency as the public is encouraged to examine the performance of government themselves and give their feedback about improvements, if any.
It was also given out that the additional features like geo-tagging and photography of works is putting extra checks to ensure that quality work is done on ground. Together with e-tendering and 3rd party verification of works by both PRIs and the Planning Department is aimed at bringing transparency and accountability in the execution of these projects throughout J&K.