Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has exhorted the heads of departments and district Collectors to keep the budgetary constraints facing the government in mind while finalising the welfare and development schemes.
Mr. Naidu reportedly asked the senior officials to assess the availability of funds and prepare action plans for the respective departments accordingly. The Chief Minister explained the financial position of the State to the district Collectors during the one-on-one interaction he had with them here on Thursday.
The issue assumes significance in the light of the severe budgetary constraints faced by the State which commenced its journey with a budget deficit of a whopping Rs.15,700 crore. Coupled with this is the burden imposed on the ex-chequer on account of loan waiver to farmers, DWCRA women and weavers that would require huge amounts.
“The government wants to ensure that maximum number of works are finalised with available budget. The message in turn is about the optimum utilisation of available resources while planning the schemes,” a senior official told The Hindu on the condition of anonymity. The government had, in principle, decided to entrust at least 25 per cent of sand mining leases to SHG women from Sept. 1 to ensure transparency and plug loopholes that were hurting the revenues and many more such initiatives were in the offing.
Earlier, Mr. Naidu had announced seven missions covering primary sector including agriculture and allied departments, service sector, industry with focus on manufacturing, infrastructure, skill and knowledge upgradation, urban development and leveraging technology seamlessly to reach out benefits to targeted beneficiaries. The government had set a 15-year timeline for achieving desired results for making the State ‘Swarnandhra’, a role model for others by 2029.
He exhorted the Collectors and senior officials to think out of box as the definition of governance has undergone significant changes over the past one decade.
