BENGALURU: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has pulled up the state government for mismanagement of the budget in 2020-21, pointing out that Rs 22,526 crore was left unspent even while unnecessary supplementary allocations were made.
CAG, in its recent report, noted that Rs 22,526 crore remained unspent under 29 grants and appropriations, and yet the government allocated unnecessary supplementary provisions of Rs 531. 1 crore under 24 grants.
Citing an example, the CAG says that under eight grants spanning 29 heads, the original provision was for Rs 8,587 crore. Over and above this, an additional allocation of Rs 391 crore was secured. But at the end of the fiscal, a sum of only Rs 7,899 crore was spent.
The highest unspent sums under these eight grants has been in the education department, followed by revenue and animal husbandry.
“From the above, it was noticed that supplementary provisions were unnecessary or excessive as original provisions were enough to take care of the expenditure,” CAG says in its report.
On the other hand, the CAG also noted that “insufficient” supplementary allocation led to excessive expenditure in 14 grants spread across 17 heads. Excess expenditure of Rs 3,080 crore was recorded in reimbursement of medical expenses, subsidies, major works, and officials’ pay.
Meanwhile, the CAG also noted that Karnataka recorded its first revenue deficit budget in 18 years in 2020-21, with the deficit being Rs 19,338 crore. However, it appreciated efforts to “contain” the fiscal deficit below 3% of GSDP in the past four years and below 5% during 2020-21.
