BALURGHAT: Bijin Krishna, District Magistrate of South Dinajpur, has instructed the representatives of the Gram Panchayats, Panchayat Samities and Zilla Parishad to utilise unused funds before the end of financial year 2023-2024.
Notably a fund of Rs 145 crore was allocated for various development works for South Dinajpur district from the 15th Finance Commission of which Rs 69 crore remains unspent.
A high-level meeting was conducted in Balurghat with the representatives of GPs, PSs and ZP in presence of DM Bijin Krishna and a message was given to them to utilise the unused funds in development projects before the end of 2023-2024. Krishna told the representatives that if the fund is not utilised before March 31, it will have to be returned.
“A clear instruction was given to the representatives of GPs, PSs and ZP regarding how to spend the fund. Various development works are going on with the fund allocated by the 15th Finance Commission. A fund of Rs 69 crore is still to be utilised before the end of March 2024. Instruction has been given to engage in development works at a rapid pace,” Krishna said.
Incidentally, during the tenure of the previous Panchayat Boards, it was seen that many works were taken up but a few were cancelled owing to various reasons, including the complexity of the plan and faulty tender process. Ambarish Sarkar, Saha-Sabhadhipati of ZP, said that many works have already been taken up by the concerned ZP.
“Plans are being taken to speed up more work in the future,” he said. In this regard, Patiram GP Pradhan, Partha Ghosh said: “I have already initiated multiple works under the Panchayat. More work is slated. These works will be done according to the rules of the district administration.”