CBI spent 30% of budget in last 6 weeks of fiscal year

New Delhi, Dec. 19: The CBI spent about ` 20 crore, nearly 30 per cent of its total budgetary allocation of ` 66.77 crore, in the last six weeks of financial year 2016- 17, a parliamentary panel has noted while pulling up the agency.

In a report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, the department- related arliamentary standing committee on personnel, public grievances and pensions asked the agency to “streamline and scrupulously” monitor the pace of implementation of its schemes and expenditure to ensure their timely completion to avoid the allocation being reduced by the finance ministry. It noted that ` 75 crore was allocated to the Central Bureau of Investigation ( CBI) in Budget Estimates of 201617 for all six planned schemes of the CBI which was reduced to ` 73.21 crore at revised estimates ( RE) stage and further reduced to ` 66.77 crore in final grant of 2016- 17.

“Further, as per figures provided by the CBI only ` 46.61 crore ( about 63.66 per cent of the funds earmarked under plan scheme at RE stage) was utilised by February 14, 2017 and the rest of the amount was spent only in the last six weeks of the financial year,” it said.

The government, in its response, said that 99.49 per cent of the final allocation to the agency had been spent under various schemes.

“The CBI and various executing agencies engaged by it are responsible for meeting expenditure on the projects. To ensure timely implementation of various projects, Project Monitoring Committees have been constituted for various ongoing projects and address issues, if any, in implementation,” it said.

The government also said implementation is also monitored in the Department of Personnel and Training on a regular basis.