Bhubaneswar: Tall claims by Union ministers and senior BJP leaders that the Modi government has allocated higher amounts of funds to Odisha have proved to be eyewash as the Centre has squeezed its funds flow to the state under various Central Sponsored Schemes (CSS).
As per an estimate made by the finance department, the Centre has not released nearly 50 per cent of the amounts anticipated for the financial year 2020-21. The state government expected to receive `17,359 crore under various CSS during this financial year out of which it received only `8524 crore.
The state Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment department had estimated to receive `874.73 crore central assistance. But, it has received only `125.90 crore till now. The Centre was supposed to allocate `131.69 crore to the state fisheries and animal resources development, but it is yet to get `88.59 crore.
Similarly, the forest & environment, housing & urban development, higher education and school & mass education departments are yet to receive `74.74 crore, `679.19 crore, `129.96 crore and `1496.82 crore respectively.
The rural development department expected to receive `1,500 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). However, the department has received just `11.58 crore which is way insufficient to meet its administrative expenditure. The state which remained in top position in implementation of the PMGSY scheme may miss it this year.
The allocation to run crucial schemes under the SC & ST development department has also been squeezed by the Centre. The department has got only `239.98 crore against its requirement of `1,092.75 crore.
The Centre has not released a single pie under various schemes introduced by Prime Minister Modi. They included the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY), the Rastriya Krishi Vikash Yojana (RKVY), the Rastriya Pashudhan Vikash Yojana (RPVY), the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Urban) and Poshan.
Besides, the Centre has not provided GST compensation to the state in view of the prevalence of Covid-19. All these factors put impact on the state economy. However, due to mining activities, the state government is able to manage it till now. The state government has asked the departments to put pressure on the line ministries to get the balance amount released during next few months left in the current financial year.
Not only for this year, the central fund flow to the state is likely to come down in next one or two years as well. Considering the reduction in central assistance and truncated receipts from its own revenue sources, the estimated shortfall in revenue during the current year would be in the order of 20-25 per cent. The state government may have to depend upon higher borrowing during the current year to finance higher spending on the management of the pandemic.
Biswa Bhusan Mohapatra, OP