West Bengal limits spending capacity of departments to deal with rising Covid-19 expenses

Kolkata

It’s seems like the government of West Bengal is faced with a fall in revenue during the pandemic. In order to function under this situation, the government has decided to limit the financial power of different departments to sanction new projects.

Government departments are now not allowed to spend more than Rs 30 lakh on new projects, while the same has been fixed at Rs 1.5 crore for the urban development and municipal affairs department.

This new rule applies to PSUs as well. State finance secretary Manoj Pant, in a memo to departmental secretaries on Wednesday, said not even new cars could be hired unless they were absolutely essential. There is also a temporary stay on new recruitments, unless they are approved by the finance department.

The State health department can only make pandemic related purchases worth up to Rs 10 crore. Mr. Pant also asked departments to refrain from buying cars, furniture, computers/laptops, television sets and air-conditioning units.

Plans to renovate or decorate buildings have been put on hold. The only expenses allowed are on school and hospitals, that too if they are requested as urgent. Officials have been requested to travel economy class only. GPF withdrawals can only be made by those retiring for service or health, education, or housing.

However, there is no cap on spending on social welfare schemes. While it is worrying to see the State government in such a financial crisis, it is also admirable to find that the officials have taken stock of the situation and introduced frugality measures on spending to limit unnecessary purchases, especially during the pandemic.

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News Source: Times of India

Updated by Indranuj Ray