PANAJI
Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Benaulim MLA, Venzy Viegas on Wednesday cautioned against the trend of the State's capital spending falling far below the levels provided for in the annual budget consistently since 2015.
Participating in the General Discussion on the 2024-25 budget in the House, Viegas pointed out that in his 2023-24 budget, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had made a provision of Rs 4,759 crore for capital expenditure.
"However, the government spent only Rs 3,449 crore, short by a whopping Rs 1,318 crores than what was envisaged in the budget," Viegas said.
Capital expenditure leads to asset creation and a higher quotient of it as against revenue expenditure in budgets of governments is considered prudent.
Viegas also faulted the Sawant government's debt management strategies saying repayment of loans to reduce public debt by the government leaves a lot to be desired. He also said that spending by the government on water supply and sanitation is 43 per cent below budget amounts as pointed out by the CAG. He urged the government to look into it and prioritize sanitation and water supply in Goa.
The Benaulim MLA also urged the government to raise the emoluments to sportsmen representing the State at the national and international level and to ensure disbursement is prompt saying adequate provisions in the budget must be made for it.
