Delay in engg projects costs edu sector funds

Naina Mishra

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 7

There was a reduction by at least 50 per cent in the capital head of the Budget for the education sector in 2018-19 fiscal, as projects worth more than Rs 100 crore could not mature.

The incomplete projects included extension block of girls’ and boys’ hostel at Punjab Engineering College (PEC) — worth Rs 40 crore, construction of admin block at the Chandigarh College of Engineering and Technology (CCET) worth Rs 23 crore and hostel blocks of PGGC-45 and PGGC-46 — Rs 42 crore.

Last year, PEC had received one-time grant of Rs 100 crore to be spent over a period of four years. From Rs 25 crore for 2018-19, the Budget was revised to Rs 1 crore. Now, the hostel construction is expected to start in 2019-20 fiscal. Similarly, the construction of the admin block at the CCET is also among works which will continue in the 2019-20 fiscal.

A major proportion — Rs 40 crore — of the education sector was given to the secondary education which included major works of school buildings. Six government school buildings — GHS-Raipur, GHS-Industrial Area, GHS-Maloya Pkt I, GHS-Maloya Pkt II, GHS-Mauli Jagran, and GHS-PGIMER — worth Rs 72 crore are under construction and will continue in this fiscal too. The school component was approved for Rs 40 crore, which stands fully utilised in the current year.

For 2019-20 fiscal,  the allocation for the education sector was reduced to Rs 809.37 crore for 2019-20. Last year, the education sector had received Rs 827 crore.  An official said the education projects would be continued in the next fiscal year.

Reduction

The capital outlay for 2019-20 stood at Rs 68.13 crore. In 2018-19, the revised capital expenditure was Rs 63.95 crore against Rs 100.29 interim Budget of 2018-2019 — a drop of 56 per cent.