Asking to shift focus from ‘‘plan outlay’’ to ‘‘physical outcome’’ of schemes for the aam admi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has directed all Ministries to submit a report devising a quarterly implementation system of the funds disbursed by the Centre.In a letter dated March 17, the Prime Minister expresses concern over the delivery mechanism that somehow does not measure up to the development schemes launched by the Centre.Citing Finance Minister P. Chidambaram’s comment on the need to firm up the ‘‘delivery mechanism’’ in his budgetary speech, the PM writes: ‘‘I must caution that outlays do not necessarily mean outcomes. The people of the country are concerned with outcomes.’’Underlining that he does not want the Centre to sit back once the development programmes were launched, the PM drew the attention of his Cabinet colleagues to the ‘‘quality of implementation’’ and the ‘‘need to enhance the efficiency and accountability of the delivery mechanism’’.It has been found that 50 per cent of the allocation which comes to the Ministries after Parliament passes the vote-of-accounts cannot be disbursed before September. This is mostly because the process of tender-calling and proposals from state governments need a minimum three-month time. ‘‘As a result, most Ministries hurriedly sanction large amounts of funds at the end of the financial year to keep up with the March deadline,’’ a senior official explained.Therefore, a report submitted by March 31 delineating the expected quarterly outcome of the outlays with detailed break-up of the programmes for which the funds are being disbursed would ensure that there is no loss of time and also enable the Centre to keep a watch on the various stages of implementation throughout the financial year, the officials said.
