37 % of funds to be utilized for development
Nasir Azam
Srinagar, Mar 25: Jammu and Kashmir would be spending 36 per cent of its budget during the next fiscal on salaries and pension of its employees.
Documents in possession of news agency— that 36 per cent of the Rs 1.08 lakh crore budget would be utilized in 2021-22 to meet salary and pension bill of the employees.
On March 17, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled Rs 1,08,621 crore budget for J&K. Of this, capital expenditure would be Rs 39,817 crore and revenue expenditure Rs.68,804. crore.
According to budget documents, 28 percent of expenditure would be utilized on salaries of employees and eight percent on pension of former employees.
In the budget estimates for 2021-22, Rs 30,131 crore have been proposed as salary expenditure for more than 4. 50 lakh employees of the UT.
The development expenditure, which also includes funds from central schemes and Prime Minister’s Development Programme for J&K, is mere one percent more than expenditure on salary and pension.
As per the estimates, Rs 39817 crore, 37 percent of the budget, would be utilized for development/ infrastructure building in J&K.
According to documents, 7 percent of the budget would be utilized for payment of interest on loans and borrowings by the government and 20 percent on other component of revenue expenditure.
It is worthwhile to mention that from time to time different quarters have asked Jammu and Kashmir Government to take measures to control revenue expenditure.
“Since the major chunk of the revenue expenditure is on salaries, pension and interest payments which is largely uncontrollable, the state government may explore measures for containing other components of revenue expenditure so that revenue deficit could be eliminated and recourse to borrowal of funds reduced,” National Institute of Public Finance and Policy said in its report on “Evaluation of State Finances: Jammu and Kashmir (2006-07 to 2016-17). (KNO)
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