Lion's share of unspent balances is with social sector ministries: CGA data

Merely bumping up money to spend will not lead to faster utilisation; CGA has identified a host of reasons for balances lying idle, not least of which is the pandemic

There have been numerous commentaries about the possible under-funding of social sector priorities in Budget FY22, but data on the actual pace of utilisation of the money by some key ministries and state governments show the problem lies elsewhere. 

Data from the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) shows that some of the highest unspent balance with the ministries or departments are usually from these sectors. Take the department of health and family welfare, for instance. About 33 per cent of the sum in its purse in FY21 was unspent. For the undivided department of agriculture, cooperation & farmers' welfare, the