Kosal Discussion and Development Forum

Poor performance of Western Odisha Development Council (WODC)

June 15, 2011 at 1:25 pm sanjibkarmee Leave a comment

Following news is from The Pioneer:

Since its inception, the Western Odisha Development Council (WODC) has been sanctioned `683 crore. However, the WODC has released `545 crore to the executing agencies of various projects.

Utilisation of funds by the WODC was up to `383 crore while the Utilisation Certificate received by the Department of Planning & Coordination is in respect of `343 crore. So, the overall performance of the WODC is poor despite it being provided funds for development of the State’s western parts.

No wonder, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik lost his cool at a review meeting on the WODC’s functioning at the State Secretariat here on Friday. Development Commissioner RN Senapati, Special Secretary CTM Suguna and other officials of the Planning & Coordination Department were present. Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Aditya Prasad Padhi, took note of the presentation on the WODC.

On an average, the WODC is being given `100 crore for developmental programmes by the State Government whereas the spending rate is at the lowest ebb, pointed out Suguna.

The Chief Minister asked the WODC authorities to prepare an Advance Action Plan of `150-crore at the beginning of the year so that it could plan expenditure of `100 crore.

It also came out to fore that frequent changes in the projects by the MLAs and members of the WODC is another cause of low spending. Secondly, in the districts where Collectors are taking interest, the spending is on a higher side. Thirdly, due to lack of coordination between the executing agencies, the spending rate is affected.

It was decided to review the spending of the WODC on a monthly basis by the Development Commissioner. The concerned Revenue Divisional Commissioners (RDCs) would be taking up quarterly reviews of the progress of the projects, said sources.

Entry filed under: Athmallik, Balangir, Bargarh, Boudh, Deogarh, Developmental schemes for districts, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Region watch, Sambalpur, Subarnapur, Sundergarh, Western Odisha development council.