State yet to utilise half of ’06-07 plan outlay

MUMBAI: While the Vilasrao Deshmukh government is basking in the glory of getting the annual plan of Rs 20,200 crore approved by the Planning Commission, the opposition is asking all the right questions about utilisation of funds. Senior BJP leader Eknath Khadse said on Thursday that the Democratic Front (DF) government had spent not more than 53% of the current plan outlay till December 2006.

Mr Khadse, who on Thursday was elected BJP legislative party leader to succeed Gopinath Munde after the later was elevated as BJP national general secretary, said around Rs 7,500 crore of the 2006-07 plan remain to be utilised with less than two months left for the current fiscal to close.

���The 2006-07 plan proposals, fixed at Rs 14,829 crore by the Planning Commission in February 2006, got budgeted as late as in December. But so far, not more than 53% of the plan outlay has been utilised. What is the logic in making high projections for the next fiscal when almost half of the current plan outlay awaits utilisation,��� asked Mr Khadse.

The BJP leader also raised objection to the 36% increase in the 2007-���08 plan size. ���Where is the state going to get the additional Rs 5,371 crore from?��� asked Mr Khadse. He demanded that the state show the exact sources from which it plans to fetch in additional revenue. ���The Planning Commission has only given an approval. It���s the state which has to generate receipts and spend,��� he said.

The BJP leader also claimed that the Union minister of state for rural development, Suryakanta Patil, had also pointed out umpteen times that Maharashtra is not fully utilising the central funds. ���For the last three-four years, the state government has not been able to provide matching grant for various centrally-funded schemes. By a moderate estimate, the state has failed to utilise around Rs 3,000-3500 crore of central funds because it failed to provide matching grants,��� Mr Khadse said.