Shifting of financial powers to impact proposed projects in Chandigarh

Various proposed projects will come to a halt with the shifting of major financial powers of the UT Administration to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

A recent order of Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria has curtailed the financial powers of officers, including Heads of Departments (HoDs), Chief Engineers, Administrative Secretaries and the Chief Secretary, and vested these with the MHA.

While ongoing projects will remain unaffected, all new projects will now be processed under the revised rules, said officials.

After this order, the work on various projects such as construction of a flyover from the PGIMER to Sarangpur, the PGIMER-Panjab University underpass, an elevated and wider bridge on Sukhna Choe near Bapu Dham Colony, a road under bridge (RUB) at Raipur Kalan, an alternative road from Industrial Area, Phase I, to Sector 7 in Panchkula, etc, will come to a standstill.

According to officials, the order would affect the functioning of various departments, particularly the engineering wing, as several tenders have also been put on hold.

Officials stated that the new order was likely to increase bureaucratic delays, as all proposals would now be routed to Delhi. “More than 20–25 tenders are floated daily for different works. If the MHA raises objections or seeks clarifications, it can cause delays of several days,” stated the officials.

The order was issued on Tuesday following directions from the Central government. Now, approvals for schemes, administrative approval, expenditure sanction and tenders will require final clearance from the MHA. Previously, financial limits allowed HoDs to sanction works up to Rs 1.50 crore, Chief Engineers Rs 3 crore, Administrative Secretaries Rs 20 crore, the Chief Secretary Rs 50 crore and the Administrator up to Rs 100 crore. These powers have now been completely withdrawn.

Earlier, the Administration had powers to approve projects up to Rs 100 crore at local level. Now, even relatively small expenditures of Rs 1.5 crore will need MHA clearance.

The order clarifies that ongoing schemes or works for which orders had already been issued will continue under old provisions. However, approvals for new schemes and tenders will now require MHA’s sanction.