BHUBANESWAR: Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh never misses a chance to bring to the fore shortcomings of the State Government. This time he has highlighted inability of the State Government in spending funds under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP). In a letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on October 5, the Union Minister has pointed out that the State has even failed to spend funds equal to the opening balance under the scheme as on April 1. “Even the opening balance as on April 1 has not been fully utilised,” he said. The opening balance as on April 1 under the scheme was Rs. 134.02 crore. Ramesh said of the allocation of Rs. 213.3 crore for 2011-12, Rs. 101.32 crore has been released as first instalment. However, expenditure up to August 31 is only Rs. 72.96 crore, he said. Ramesh has advised Naveen to instruct the department concerned to expedite utilisation of available funds and send the proposal for release of second instalment by November 15 after fulfilling the necessary requirements. In case Orissa utilises the fund allocated to it under NRDWP within the year, proposal for release of additional funds under the scheme can be considered at the end of the financial year based on available savings and the capacity of the State to spend more, he said. During his meeting with Ramesh here on August 14, the Chief Minister had raised the issue of increase in the allocation under the NRDWP.
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