NASHIK: Out of the Rs 618 crore funds received by the Zilla Parishad, the administration has spent Rs 567 crore, and only Rs 51 crore remained unspent.
Therefore, the officials returned the excess funds to the government. However, Rs 26 crore from the returned amount belonged to the tribal development and schemes. It is being alleged due to poor planning of the administration, tribal areas yet again remained deprived of development.
Zilla Parishad has spent Rs 567 crore out of Rs 618 crore received from the District Planning Committee, state government and Central Government in the financial year 2021-22. From the returned amount, Rs 26 crore belonged to schemes implemented for the tribals. Even though the government has allocated funds for the tribals living in remote areas in proportion to their population, the tribal population remained deprived of development due to the return of funds.
The administration is implementing various schemes in the district ranging from the construction of primary health centers and schemes for tribal farmers, backward classes and Neo-Buddhists, to construction of primary schools, anganwadis, minor irrigation systems, tribal and Dalit settlement improvement scheme, veterinary first aid center, and others.
District Planning Committee funds the majority of the schemes. Even Central and state governments implement their schemes through Zilla Parishad. The committee and government provide separate funds for the general sector and tribal schemes. Due to a large number of tribals in Nashik district, a large amount of funds is disbursed in proportion to the population.
Also, due to the implementation of the PESA Act, the administration shouldn’t face any difficulty in implementing the schemes. However, the major chunk of funds returned belonged to the tribal sub-schemes. Due to the poor implementation of schemes and inappropriate disbursal of funds, the tribals were deprived of the benefits attached to various schemes. With the implementation of various schemes and return of funds, the administration will face difficulty while sanctioning these projects in the new financial year as addition of earlier expenses to limited funds will create a deficit.
