Par panel pulls up Niti's monitoring body for under-utilisation of funds

A parliamentary panel has pulled up the Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO) of Niti Aayog for under-utilisation of funds and its inability to recruit staff against the vacant posts.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, headed by former minister and senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily, in a report tabled in Parliament today said the allocation of DMEO was increased by 20 per cent during 2017-18.

"But only Rs 99 million had been utilised up to January 2018 against the budget estimate of Rs 150 million for 2017-18," the committee said.

The committee further said it is dismayed to note that despite flagging their concerns time and gain regarding the under-utilisation of budgetary allocation at its inception stage, the appropriate sincerity on the part of DMEO and Niti seems to be lacking.
 

The committee has previously noted that keeping in view its role, the DMEO should have been adequately staffed and started functioning at a suitable pace.

"The trend of under-utilisation of funds and DMEO's inability to recruit staff against the vacant posts has become a regular feature and the reasoning thereof seems to be routine and repetitive," it observed.
 

The DMEO was established in September 2015 as an attached office of Niti Aayog and it was mandated with monitoring the implementation of 'Output Outcome Budget' of the government for 2017-18.