Bhubaneswar: For systematic appraisal and approval of new schemes or new services, the State Government has come up with a new set of guidelines required to be followed by the Departments.
Vishal Dev, Principal Secretary Finance has directed officials to issue the fresh guidelines to ensure efficient management of public expenditure.
Accordingly, the Department of Finance has issued the revised guidelines setting financial limits for different levels in Government.
As per the guidelines, a new scheme or sub-scheme will be initiated with submission of Scheme Memorandum along with Detailed Paper (DP) or Detailed Project Report (DPR) for comments of Planning & Convergence Department, Finance Department and other stakeholder Departments.
The Administrative Departments have been asked to merge, restructure or drop existing schemes and sub-schemes that have become redundant or ineffective with the passage of time.
The duration of a scheme shall not be more than 5 years. Any scheme which the implementing Department wants to continue beyond 5 years, the appraisal should be in the 5th year, well before the pre-budget scrutiny for next financial year, it said.
Environmental related assessment would be undertaken, wherever required and measures identified to mitigate adverse impact, if any. Issues relating to land acquisition, diversion of forest land, rehabilitation and resettlement will also be addressed while submitting the appraisal report.
Emphasis should be made to highlight the integration of the 17 broad Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to the new projects, it said.
Internal Rate of Return (IRR) will be calculated in case of projects which are likely to have or generate direct revenue streams while Economic Rate of Return (ERR) will be calculated in case of projects which are not likely to generate direct revenue streams.
The guidelines say the Secretary of the concerned Department shall approve the Memorandum after which the Administrative Department shall circulate the same to the Finance Department, Planning & Convergence Department and other stakeholder Departments electronically through the BETA system.
In case of new Social Sector Schemes, the concerned department should have to consult ST & SC Development, Women & Child Development, Mission Shakti and SSEPD Departments.
The Administrative Department will send the DP/DPR to the Planning & Convergence Department and Finance Department along with the Scheme Memorandum containing key aspects of the proposal for approval.
The Planning & Convergence and Finance Departments will review the proposal as contained in the DP/DPR and accord their approval to the Administrative Department, if they find the DP/DPR appropriate.
As per the revised norms, Secretary of the Administrative Department can approve schemes and projects worth upto Rs 5 crore while Minister in charge of the Department can sanction projects and schemes above Rs 5 crore to Rs 50 crore in consultation with Standing Finance Committee (SFC) of the Administrative Department.
Similarly, the Minister can also sanction projects and schemes above Rs 50 crore to Rs 100 crore in consultation with the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) chaired by the Secretary, Finance.
The Chief Minister has the power to approve projects worth above Rs 100 crore to Rs 250 crore. If the scheme or project is above Rs 250 crore, the State Cabinet is the authority.
The financial limit above is the total size of the scheme/ project being posed for appraisal and includes budgetary support, extra- budgetary resources, external aid, debt/equity/loans etc. for the entire duration of the scheme.
While exercising delegated powers, concerned departments should ensure the proposals are subject to rigorous examination in project design and delivery, and careful attention should be paid to recurring liabilities and fund availability after adjustment of the committed liabilities, it added.
