Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday emphasized the need for increased harnessing of the Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) and top priority to favourable sharing patterns.

The CM chaired a meeting at Civil Secretariat in Srinagar to review the functioning and progress of the Finance Department.

The meeting was attended by Advisor to Chief Minister, Nasir Aslam Wani; Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo; Additional Chief Secretary to CM, Dheeraj Gupta, Principal Secretary Finance and the heads of various divisions of the Finance Department.

The Principal Secretary Finance Department made a detailed presentation highlighting the budgetary trends, fiscal challenges and the ongoing reforms.

The Chief Minister appreciated the focus on CSSs and improved revenue realization while noting that the receipt of CSS funds from Gol under different CSS during the current year is Rs 10300 crore as compared to Rs 6386 crore and Rs 5997 crore during 2022-23 and 2021-22 respectively.

“This should be ensured by close monitoring by the Administrative Secretaries/ HoDs, stepping up execution speed, and timely release of the Central and UT shares,” he maintained.

He also stressed the need for Administrative Departments to follow up issues pertaining to CSS with the respective Central Ministries.

The Chief Minister noted the measures to constrain non-priority expenditure, increase tax revenue to create space for higher capital expenditure. He stressed the need to expedite capital expenditure by all the Departments.

The Chief Minister noted that the Departments need to achieve revenue realization against the targets. He advised the Finance Department to release the UT’s share on priority.

Although GST collections have improved, he observed that there is scope for further improvement to achieve the targets fixed. The Chief Minister commended that the Government is on the right path of development and focusing on maintaining prudence in financial management.

He stressed that the Government should develop a coordinated system to ensure the minimum prescribed procurement from local SHGs/ MSMEs on GEM Portal.

He noted that all autonomous bodies and universities should develop robust monitoring systems to ensure judicious utilization of grants in aid, improve internal resources and avail external grants from different central agencies.

The Chief Minister stressed that all the Administrative Secretaries should review working of their Departments so that better amenities are provided to people.

He urged the Finance Department to make steadfast progress on the fiscal reforms and pursue additional funding with the Central Government. He asked the Department to focus on improving revenue generation and restraining revenue expenditure.