Finance Ministry restores budget of Ladakh Hill Councils
The Union Ministry of Finance has restored the budget of Ladakh Administrative Hill Development Councils of Leh and Kargil. Earlier, in a controversial move, the budget of both the hill councils was cut down.
The Advisor to the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, Pawan Kotwal chaired a meeting to review the expenditure under State Capex and to strategise the utilisation of the additional Rs 400-crore budget released by the Ministry of Finance for the UT of Ladakh.
Director of Finance Safdar Ali gave a comprehensive presentation on budget estimates and revised budget estimates for the financial year 2024-25. It was informed that the capital budget of the LAHDCs has been restored to Rs 344 crore each while reallocating the remaining funds as per the requirement of the different departments.
Kotwal emphasised on collective efforts of the officers for transparency, accountability and efficiency in resource utilisation, ensuring that every rupee spent contributes significantly to the holistic development of Ladakh. He directed the concerned officers to utilise funds in due time and clear the liability of the work done by various departments. He underscored the importance of fiscal responsibility, timely execution and the need for continuous collaboration to overcome any challenges that may arise during the execution phase.
The meeting was attended by Administrative Secretary, Tourism & Culture, Vikram Sigh Malik; Administrative Secretary, PWD, Micheal D’Souza; Administrative Secretary, FCS&CA, Yetindara Maralkar; Administrative Secretary, Agriculture & Horticulture, Bhupesh Chaudhary; Administrative Secretary, RDD, Shashanka Ala; Secretary, Higher & School Education, Bhanu Prabha; Deputy Commissioner, Leh, Santosh Sukhadeve; Deputy Commissioner, Kargil, Shrikant Suse; Head of the Departments and officials from the concerned departments.
