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Photo: PTI
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Government is struggling to make ends meet as the total plan fund expenditure of various projects for the current financial year stood at 43.17 per cent. In fact, the deepening financial crisis in the state has hampered various projects announced earlier this year.
It is worth noting that by December 2021, when the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic was at its peak, the government spent 47 per cent of the total outlay announced for the financial year. Despite the pandemic recession long gone, the state government continues to refrain from spending the money.
According to Plan Space, a web-based integrated information system to monitor and evaluate the progress of schemes, the total project allocation or aggregate plan outlay, including local self-government schemes and central aid schemes, is Rs 39,640.19 crores. Of this, 43.17 per cent has been spent so far in the financial year.
Further, the fund allocated for projects, excluding local self-government bodies, stood at Rs 22,322 crores. Only 39.95 per cent of the total outlay is used. Meanwhile, only 51.42 per cent of the Rs 8048 crore allocated for local bodies is so far utilized.
With only three months remaining for the financial year 2022/23 to end, it is still unclear whether the government will utilise the total outlay allocated for various projects. However, for the past few years, the government has dropped the practice of cutting down project expenditures if the state treasury faces financial woes. Instead, the government opted to continue spending as much as possible and include the unused amount in the electronic ledger for the next FY. It is predicted that the government will follow this practice again by the end of FY 2022/23.
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