Karnataka: ARC recommends closing or consolidating schemes that are no longer relevant

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In a archetypal of its benignant that could prioritise gross expenditure successful the State, the Second Karnataka Administrative Reforms Commission has recommended ending oregon consolidating astir 1,000 heads of accounts (HOAs)/ schemes that are not applicable to the existent times, but are yet portion of the budgetary allocations. It has recommended restrictions connected creating caller posts successful the authorities unless it is indispensable and has recommended yearly recruitment program to guarantee deployment of personnel.

The identified HOAs are from a full of 2,874 HOAs that are portion of the fund that person received nary backing successful the fund allocation oregon are portion of indebtedness servicing. The committee headed by seasoned Congress person R.V. Deshpande submitted its recommendations connected Tuesday.

The HOAs sought to beryllium retired/ discontinued were recovered to beryllium receiving little allocation twelvemonth aft year, oregon were irrelevant, oregon not receiving a bully response. Further, immoderate of these HOAs were recovered to beryllium overlapping centrally-sponsored schemes, oregon determination are opportunities to merge oregon consolidate with different schemes. These person been recovered to person administrative expenses of much than 35%. It has suggested projects to beryllium implemented connected “mission mode” with a clip framework of 3 to 5 years.

Even earlier the ARC made its recommendations, the authorities had been considering prioritising oregon rationalising its gross expenditure, arsenic the gross shortage had accrued implicit the past 2 fiscal years owed to the implementation of 5 flagship warrant schemes. Officials acquainted with the contented accidental that successful Karnataka, successive governments-despite governmental differences, person refrained from closing schemes but chose to proceed them with nary oregon meagre allocation.

Recommending a periodic audit of schemes to place those that accumulate contempt remaining defunct, the committee noted that allocation to astir 280 HOAs (besides astir 1,000 HOAs) had seen its allocation diminution steeply from ₹1,336 crore successful 2023-2024 to astir ₹105 crore successful 2025-2026. The committee said that, considering the steep diminution successful allocation, the schemes person either met their objectives oregon person mislaid their relevance considerably. After considering administrative expenses, the allocation to taluk and district-level is meagre that strategy implementation becomes impossible.

The committee has noted that respective schemes were consistently receiving little than ₹1 crore allocation for respective years, and they were providing meagre benefits owed to fiscal limitations. The overlap with centrally-sponsored schemes is limiting the absorption of funds earmarked by the State, it said, adding that over-dependence connected centrally-sponsored schemes has led to scattering of State projects.

2.94L posts vacant

The committee recovered that a full of 2.94 lakh posts were vacant against the sanctioned spot crossed 42 departments. In all, 8.16 lakh posts person been approved, of which 5.18 lakh posts person been filled. About 70,000 unit person been outsourced by departments.

The committee has recommended freezing outsourcing of Group C and Group D cadres and abolish obsolete and functionally irrelevant posts and capable agelong pending frontline vacancies connected priority.

Engineering graduates arsenic cooks

A reappraisal of the Backward Classes Department by the ARC has recovered that arsenic galore arsenic 240 B.E. graduates, 180 MTech graduates, and astir 2,000 MCA/ BBA/ BCA graduates were moving arsenic cooks and successful different related jobs. Across departments, it has been recovered that among the precocious recruited archetypal part assistants, 2nd part assistants, and inferior assistants, a ample fig of recruited candidates were engineering graduates from streams of machine science, mechanical engineering, physics and communication, and others. In presumption of strengthening the e-governance department, the committee has recommended the pooling of specified resources to utilise their skills.

Published - December 30, 2025 09:37 p.m. IST

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