The Hindu 19.05.2010
Incentives laid out for local bodies
N.J. Nair
Fund utilisation on time will fetch more funds
Funds unspent will go to those who spend in full
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a bid to instil financial discipline and prompt the local self-government institutions to ensure optimum utilisation of funds, the Local Administration Department has taken an experimental step to award an incentive to the civic bodies which exhaust the entire allocation within the prescribed time.
As a litmus test, the department sanctioned a special package of Rs.340 crore for maintenance of roads in corporations, municipalities, district and block panchayats. Of this, Rs.56 crore has been held back to be apportioned among those civic bodies which spend the total allocation within the stipulated time. Deviating from the conventional pattern of sharing the funds on the basis of specific guidelines, the total area under a civic body was considered as the main yardstick for the allocation. Under the new system, funds unspent by civic bodies will be transferred to those who excel.
Triggering a contest
Being the election eve, the decision is expected to persuade the elected members to work overtime to complete the works to prove that they have surpassed others who have got an equal share.
During the Ninth Plan period, civic bodies faced the risk of losing the unspent allocation. The funds were sanctioned in four instalments and after calculating the unspent balance, it was reduced in the subsequent instalments. This system had invited criticism as it was felt that the civic bodies which could not use the funds due to reasons beyond their control like political instability were also penalised and deprived of a chance for taking up development works in due course.
The system is expected to catalyse the development process and also induce the committees to act responsibly. Civic bodies tend to overlook the timetable set by the department for execution of works and utilisation of funds. Quite often the entire allocation is expended within a month at the fag end of the financial year. The system would be a solution to such complaints too, sources said.
