NEW DELHI: Four schemes finalised during the Eleventh Plan by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry have now been shifted to the 12th Plan because of tardy progress in getting approvals of the Planning Commission.

Noting that the Ministry has failed to learn lessons from the past, the Parliamentary Standing Committee for Information Technology has exhorted the Ministry to look into this and ensure that the implementation of the schemes start during the first year itself or in the earlier part of the year so that the allocations earmarked for the year 2012-13 are utilised.

The schemes are setting up of a Global Film School; setting up of a National Centre of Excellence for Animation, Gaming and Special Effects; National Film Heritage Mission under Film Sector; and an International Channel under Doordarshan, which could not be formally approved during the long period of five years.

The plan for upgrading the Film and Television Institute of India into a Global Film School had been finalised with comprehensive rationalisation and restructuring but it will now be included in the umbrella scheme of Infrastructure Development programme relating to Film Sector in the 12th Plan.

The National Centre of Excellence for Animation, Gaming and Special Effects and the Doordarshan International channel are now new schemes under the 12th Plan, while the National Film Heritage Mission is part of the Twelfth Plan new scheme as a Special Mission.

When asked about timeline chalked out for early approval and implementation of these Schemes, the Ministry has replied that the approval of new schemes involves a four stage appraisal-cum-approval process: in-principle approval; preparation of Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) and preparation of EFC /SFC memos; appraisal of SFC / EFC memos; and approval by the competent authority.

NEW DELHI: Concerned over the ‘unsatisfactory performance‘ of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry in spending just over 30 per cent of its allocation in the first four months of the Eleventh Plan, a Parliamentary Committee has asked the Ministry to analyse the reasons for under utilisation of outlay scheme/sector-wise.

The Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology dealing with the budgetary demands of the I&B Ministry in a recent report asked the Ministry to "gear up its monitoring mechanism" to ensure that the allocated funds are fully utilised and all the on-going schemes may be strictly monitored to keep pace with the expenditure. The Committee has also sought a report on the specific steps taken by the Ministry in this regard.

It noted that the overall outlay for 2011-12 had been increased by Rs 255.8 million over the Budgetary Allocation for 2010-11, which works out to insignificant increase of 0.97 per cent.

For the Eleventh Plan (2007-12), the Planning Commission had approved total outlay of Rs 54.39 billion. During a Mid Term appraisal, the outlay was enhanced to Rs 63.11 billion due to additional outlay for "High and Lower Power Transmitters for Jammu and Kashmir Border Areas" and "Commonwealth Games 2010 and Related Programmes".

But the Committee noted that the actual expenditure during the first four years of the Eleventh Plan was Rs 19.17 billion (Information Sector Rs 2.55 billion, Film Sector Rs 1.98 billion and Broadcasting Sector Rs 14.64 billion), which is just 30.38 per cent of the total Budgetary allocation.

The Committee noted it had expressed serious concern over inability of the Ministry to fully utilise the outlay in its Sixth Report on Demands for Grants (2010-11), and had pointed out that under-utilisation of funds is a perennial problem with the Ministry, which is an indicator of its poor budgeting mechanism and failure of monitoring mechanism to review the implementation of various schemes/projects.

In spite of that, the Committee noted that under-utilisation still persists under different schemes/projects in all three sectors of the Ministry. Besides inability of the Ministry to fully utilise the outlay, delay in approval of important schemes of the Ministry, as discussed in the subsequent part of the report, are areas of concern. The Committee, therefore, impress upon the Ministry to take steps to make the implementation mechanism more effective.

Referring to tardy implementation of schemes, the Committee said that this "clearly indicates that there are serious problems in the whole planning process which is not conducive for the overall functioning of the Ministry."

The Committee desired that the Ministry should work out a more streamlined approval system so that the situation of non-clearance of the schemes does not persist. The Committee recommended that the Ministry should take corrective measures so that the situation of non-clearance of schemes does not get repeated during the Twelfth Plan.

According to the Ministry, it had formulated 86 schemes at the beginning of the Eleventh Plan. However, the total number of schemes was reduced to 65 at the time of Zero Based Budgeting exercise undertaken by the Planning Commission in May 2007.

During examination of the previous year‘s Demands for Grants (2010-11), the Committee had noted that out of total 38 new schemes, 13 schemes were awaiting approval and out of 28 on-going schemes, approval for two schemes was pending. Thus in total 15 schemes were pending clearance/approval.

Having observed that delay in approval of the schemes was one of the factors responsible for under-utilisation of outlay, the Committee in the Sixth Report on Demands for Grants (2010-11) had asked the Ministry to work out a more streamlined approval system.

In spite of that, four important schemes of the Ministry, which include Global Film School, Setting up of a National Centre of Excellence for Animation, Gaming and Special Effects, the National Film Heritage Mission under the Film Sector and the International Channel under the Broadcasting Sector were still awaiting approval/clearance even when Annual Plan 2011-12 was in the last year of the Eleventh Plan.

The Committee disapproved the way projects are being planned by the Ministry. All the schemes were formulated at the beginning of the Eleventh Plan and in the process four precious years were lost.