C.M. Ibrahim, Deputy Chairperson of the Karnataka State Planning Board, has recommended to the State Government the setting up a permanent planning board with independence akin to the judiciary to review and hold the executive to account.
Speaking after inaugurating a seminar on the state budget by the Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy of the National Law School of India University here on Tuesday, he said that the board should have the responsibility to review works in all 36 government departments. He said that the body should have eight members with responsibility of departments divided among them.
The board should meet once every three months to review allocation of money in departments and how it is spent, said Mr. Ibrahim, adding that members should have powers to pull up officials who fail to effectively execute plans. The board should also visit districts and hold consultations, he said.
Mr. Ibrahim said that the Planning Board is meeting in mid-April to review budget allocation and work out a mechanism for implementation.
Focus on spending
Making a presentation at the seminar on gender and budget, K. Gayithri from the Institute of Social and Economic Change (ISEC), said that a thorough analysis of the budget will have to focus not on allocation of money but on how much of it is released and how it is spent.
Bunching together of expenditure in the last quarter was a particular area of concern, she added. More than half the expenditure in many departments happen after December, said Prof. Gayithri.
Manohar Yadav, also from ISEC, in his paper on budget proposals for Scheduled Castes, said that though allocation for the welfare of Dalits has seen a consistent rise in various budgets, allocations in some sectors, such as tourism, have had no direct or palpable benefits to the intended target group.
“It is difficult, for example, to understand how SCs would benefit from such allocation particularly when we find that they are not involved in tourism development,” he said.
source: http: //www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Karnataka / by Bageshree S. / Bengaluru – March 03rd, 2015