Finance minister Radhakrishna Kishore on Wednesday announced the institution of a high-powered committee headed by the development commissioner to monitor and ensure timely implementation of the state government schemes.
The finance minister made the announcement while replying to the discussion on budgetary proposals, during which the few opposition members had raised questions about the fate of the announcements in Budget speeches. BJP member Raj Sinha and JDU legislator Saryu Roy raised the issue while participating in the discussion.
“As Raj Sinha highlighted, 68 announcements were made in last year’s Budget speech. However, only eight have been implemented to date. Such a work culture must change, else the Budget speech will just be reduced to an account of revenue and expenditure,” said Roy.
In his reply, the minister said while the state government is committed to implement all the announcements, a committee will be instituted to make the Executive responsible.
“All good work take time. But it’s equally unacceptable that only eight out of 68 announcements are implemented in a year. I am announcing the formation of a committee headed by the development commissioner. This committee will also include secretaries from several key departments and will monitor and ensure compliance with all announcements made through the Governor’s address, or by the chief minister and the finance minister,” said Kishore.
The finance minister, meanwhile, also challenged the Opposition BJP and the Centre to form a committee to audit the state’s fund disbursement. “They allege that the Centre is not disbursing funds because the state was not providing utilisation certificates for the disbursed funds. I challenge the Centre to form a committee and get it audited,” said Kishore, challenging the BJP members as they walked out of the Assembly during his reply.
Earlier, participating in the debate, BJP legislator Raj Sinha cornered the government saying the government has failed to bring in budget most of the promises made in the election manifesto. “What happened to the scholarship to the unemployed? You promised to give seven kilogram rice and two kilogram Dal through PDS. You promised to increase paddy MSP from ₹2,400 to ₹3,200. You promised to give LPG cylinder at ₹450. What happened to all these promises? Sinha said.
In a specific reply, the finance minister underlined that the election manifesto is to be implemented in five years. “Each and every promise made by the Congress party will be delivered,” he added.
.
