Chandigarh, August 7:On the directives of Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, the Finance Department on Wednesday released Rs. 566.70 Crores to the departments of Local Government, Social Justice & Empowerment besides National Health Mission (NHM).
Disclosing this here, a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said that funds to the tune of Rs. 218.37 crore has been released to Local Government department for disbursal of salary/pension to employees of various Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), Rs. 165.07 crore to Social Justice & Empowerment Department for disbursement of social security pensions, and Rs. 136.81 Crores as grant-in-aid for implementation of various programmes/schemes under the National Health Mission.
Likewise, another Rs. 46.45 Crores have been issued under Standard Object of Expenditure (SOEs), to be incurred on medical reimbursement, fuel and other office expenses.
The Chief Minister has reiterated his earlier directive to all the departments to manage their finances prudently to cut down wasteful expenditure in order to further consolidate the state’s fiscal position. While expressing satisfaction over the improved fiscal position, the Chief Minister has called for more proactive steps to further augment the pace of growth, besides ensuring better financial management and discipline, the spokesperson further added