Govt May Cut Down Social Schemes To Improve Quality

The government may cut back some of the plethora of socio-economic schemes that have outlived their utility as it uses outcome budgeting to assess the impact of central sector schemes, a top official said.

In a bid to improve the quality of public expenditure, the finance ministry has asked every ministry to prepare outcome budget statement linking outlays against each scheme with deliverables achieved and their impact on economy and citizens. Budget 2017: Development Schemes Focused On

The move is part of the budget overhauling exercise to make every penny spent count.

"Outcome budgeting essentially means that the investments which are made in any particular scheme or project must have a well-defined outcome. We had requested the ministries and they have given us an outcome budget which has been finalized after consultation with Niti Aayog and that outcome is what will measure the impact of that scheme," Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa told PTI.

While the impact of some schemes may come in one year, in others, it may take a bit longer for the impact to be seen. "But the important aspect is all schemes must have an outcome. It should be measured, it can be monitored," he said.

Niti Aayog will monitor the outcome. Asked if this would lead to pruning of schemes, he said: "Certainly. It will mean that the schemes are assessed based on their efficiency. And already, we in 2017-18 dropped a number of schemes (central sector) which the ministries thought have outlived their utility."

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, he said, had last year announced that all schemes should have a sunset clause. "So, the intention of the government is that every ministry should be conscious that any scheme or project which is implemented will have a life," he said further. 6 Government Backed Investment Schemes For Best Return And Less Risk

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