Medium-term fiscal plan for 4 depts.

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, SEPT. 21. The Government has chosen four departments for a pilot project utilising the assistance under the India- Australia Training and Capacity Building Project for preparation of a medium-term fiscal plan for each department for 2001-2005.

The Government has already prepared a medium-term fiscal plan for 2001-2005 for the State as part of the economic reform programme. The objective of the pilot project is to set down broad objectives and targets, along with strategies, for each department, with guidance from experts/consultants.

The departments chosen for the pilot project -- said to be the first of its kind in the country -- are Primary and Secondary Education, Health and Family Welfare, Public Works and Rural Water Supply. They are expected to complete the exercise in the next 30 to 45 days, and implement the concept from the next Budget. The other departments will be covered next year.

This information was given to presspersons by Mr. C. Gopal Reddy, Additional Chief Secretary, and Mr. S.C. Kuntia, Secretary, Finance Department, after a presentation by Prof. Percy Allan and Mr. Tom Martin, public expenditure management specialists from New South Wales, and discussions with the secretaries to government and heads of department concerned.

Mr. Reddy and Mr. Kuntia said the experts had suggested changes in the methodology of administering funds allocated to each department, so that the focus was on certain important programmes and projects. When a goal was fixed, it was possible to reduce the number of programmes, and focus on a few, for achieving the objective fulfilled, they pointed out.

The Public Works Minister, Mr. Dharam Singh, the Social Welfare Minister, Mr. Kagodu Thimmappa, and the Housing Minister, Mr. Qamar-ul-Islam, participated in the discussions.

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Section  : Southern States
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