Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The financial year came to an end on March 31. Although there was a public holiday due to Mahavir Jayanti, several government departments were open and completed financial transactions. Payments related to banks were processed by 4pm, and the remaining payments were made through cheques. It is being said that several departments faced a financial crisis during the March-end period as there were fewer funds compared to the previous year.
On March 31, a total of 479 bills were submitted to the district treasury office by evening. Payments of ₹100 crore for these bills and ₹500 crore for bills submitted in the past five days were cleared. Compared to the last financial year, fewer bills were submitted this year. By the end of March 2024, 1,400 bills were submitted, and in 2025, 1,100 bills were submitted.
There are as many as 358 government offices in the district. The bills of the concerned departments are checked and sent back to the drawing and disbursing office of the respective department for online sanction, treasury department sources said.
The bills were not cleared by many departments due to a lack of funds. The PWD needed around ₹1,100 crore for payments, but it was not received by 7pm. The bills were ready but were not processed, said Superintending Engineer SS Bhagat. The District Planning Committee (DPC) has completed the stage of ₹735 crore. All payments in the last stage were completed, said officer Bharat Wayal.
Meanwhile, the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation (CSMC) collected property and water taxes to the tune of ₹232 crore by March 31 evening. It is a record tax collection by the corporation due to perfect planning by Municipal Commissioner G Sreekanth, sources said.
An independent Maitry cell was established for tax collection. Employees were given tabs, and specific properties were assigned to them. Deputy Commissioner Vikas Nawale reviewed the problems in each zone and resolved issues faced by officers and employees. A strict stand was taken to seal properties with overdue taxes.
The town planning department earned revenue of ₹201 crore, which included ₹124 crore from construction permits and completion certificates. In all, 9,284 properties were regularised through the Gunthewari Act, and CSMC earned ₹74 crore from it.
The corporation had earlier given a 25% concession on fines and later 75%, through which ₹150 crore was earned. The corporation collected ₹235 crore through property and water taxes, Nawale claimed.
Funds remain unutilised in ZP
Funds worth crores of rupees remained unutilised due to the delayed sanction of proposals in the Zilla Parishad. The social welfare department delayed sanctioning proposals for backward classes, due to which beneficiaries could not be selected in time. Hence, funds of around ₹6 crore for backward classes and ₹74 lakh for persons with disabilities remained unutilised, said Social Welfare Officer Babasaheb Arawat.
As the proposals were fewer, the Finance Commission had withheld the funds. Gram panchayats received 80% of these funds, while the ZP and panchayat samitis received 10% each. The administrator’s regime was lifted after the ZP and PS elections, clearing the way for releasing funds. Several development works remained on paper for the past three years. Now, rural development will be facilitated, sources said.
