Jammu, August 11: Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has called for full utilization of Centrally Sponsored Schemes in the state to maximize the developmental initiatives being taken in the state by the new government.
The announcement or the directions of the Chief Minister are a welcome step and must be taken to its logical end as the state has witnessed a halt in the developmental schemes not due to dearth of funds but due to bureaucratic lethargy by not committing itself to good governance and submitted the required utilization certificates from time to time.
One wonders why a Chief Minister should ask the bureaucrats to follow the set procedure when it is the moral, legal and official duty of the bureaucrats to manage the affairs of the state smoothly to take the state to the path of progress.
Every year we have been witnessing Central funding worth hundreds of crores getting lapsed due to non-submission of utilization certificates or just letting the funds lapse as the bureaucrats at the helm of affairs simple don’t bother to spend the money as desired.
Chief Minister is right that with centrally sponsored schemes worth Rs 6000 crores the state can see a sea change in the developmental scenario only if the money is spent as per the guidelines and the relevant utilization certificates etc are submitted timely.
It has become a norm for the political parties to complain of lack of funding from the centre but when one analysis the situation it comes to fore that the state administration has played truant and irresponsible while dealing with the central funding pattern.
Why should the central funds get lapsed when the state is crying hoarse for fund shortage even as centre has been reminding the state time and again about the usage of the money as per the directions, but it seems the powers that be hardly bother to work while in the musical chairs.
What needs to be done if at all the new dispensation under the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed is sincere in bringing huge central funding to the state is that it needs to overhaul the administration and ensure accountability among the bureaucrats so that the liberal central funding is utilized to its max in the state.
With Narendra Modi in the saddle at centre it is but obvious that J&K is not going to see the dearth of money from the centre but at the same time the government must also realize that it is Modi not Manmohan at the helm and Modi wants results.
What is the harm if we work for what we are paid and ensure that whatever the directions central government gives while funding the projects in the state are fulfilled so that centre can pump in more money for the development of the state.
Since the Central Government is contemplating cutting down CSSs to a few select prestigious flagship programmes from the present 66. With this restructuring, the resources under the abolished CSSs would be subsumed into the kitty of the mega schemes and it would be in the fitness of things if the state government proves its worth and convinces the centre to pump in more funding to take this state at par with other developed states of the country.
The government must lay stress on steps which are required to be taken to ensure quality control in execution of developmental schemes for creation of durable public assets.