Shortage of administrative capacity leading to underspending by states

CAG audits show that more than lack of funds, it's the shortage of administrative capacity that leads to underspending on health and education

States often spend far less money on health and education for lack of departmental capacity rather than lack of funds, a perusal of the latest audit reports of these governments has shown. 

The unused sums are often large. Even the Delhi state government, which has predicated its political model on spending on health and education, “saved” 21 per cent of its education department budget of Rs 13,492.52 crore for the year FY20 (a pre-Covid-19 year). 

In Uttar Pradesh, of the total sum of unreconciled expenditure in the state budget, over 5 per cent is the spending on education. The trends