Jharkhand chief secretary seeks timely utilisation certificate of Centre’s fund

Ranchi, January 24: Jharkhand chief  secretary Alka Tiwari has directed the secretaries of all the concerned departments to give timely utilization certificate of the amount received under the Special Assistance Scheme given to the states for capital investment by Centre.

She said that by giving timely utilization certificate of the amount spent, the claim on the remaining amount in that item will be strengthened.

She further said that this would also help in establishing the identity of the state as one that completes the scheme on time with financial discipline.

It is worth noting that under the Special Assistance Scheme for Capital Investment by the Central Government, interest free loan is given to the states for 50 years. On Friday, the chief secretary was reviewing the Scheme for Special Assistance to State for Capital Investment (SASCI) with the secretaries of the concerned departments.

During the review, the chief secretary was informed that in the financial year 2023-24, Jharkhand has been allocated Rs 5255.14 crore by the Central Government, out of which Rs 4580.62 crore has been received so far. For the financial year 2024-25, a proposal of Rs 4302 crore has been submitted by the state to the Central Government, against which the Central Government has approved a proposal of Rs 2763 crore. At the same time, Jharkhand has already received an amount of Rs 1233 crore under the proposal.

It was told that apart from this, the state can also claim about Rs 1250 crore for various parts of SASCI.

It was told that if the work is done as per the guidelines of the Central Government, then under SASCI, an acquisition of Rs 4600 crore is possible from the Central Government for the financial year 2024-25. During the review, it was told that Rs 162.94 crore has been approved for the construction of Unity Mall in Jharkhand for the financial year 2023-24. The state has received Rs 81.47 crore as its first installment. Now the Industry Department has to give a certificate of utilization of 75 percent of the amount received, only after that the remaining amount of this item will be received from the Central Government.

The state has submitted a proposal of Rs 214.94 crore for the beautification of Netarhat, Tilaiya and Tenughat Dam. The Central Government has approved Rs 34.87 crore for Tilaiya Dam. It was told that some information has been sought by the Central Government for the beautification scheme of dams, for which the tourism department has been asked to take action in this regard.

At the same time, Rs 163 crore has been allocated to the state by the Central Government for the construction of Working Women Hostel. Under this, a total of eight hostels are to be constructed in Jharkhand. The Government of India has sought some information regarding two hostels, which has to be provided by the Industry Department.

During the review, it became clear that under SNA Sparsh, the state government can claim Rs 250 crore from the central government by 31 January 2025. It was told that a claim of Rs 30 crore has been made from the central government to rationalize the building construction rules under the Urban Planning Reform.