Bengaluru, DHNS: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s claims of good governance were contradicted by his officials on Monday, who presented a dismal picture leaving him red-faced.

Non-utilisation of special grants to city corporations (only Rs 72.80 crore of Rs 348 crore spent), tardy progress under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (only 9,000 toilets constructed against the target of 1.4 lakh), non-utilisation of additional resources, poor show under urban renewal mission are some of the highlights of the presentation made before the chief minister.

The statistics were for 2015-16 prepared by the Department of Planning, Programme Monitoring and Statistics. It was presented to the chief minister in a closed-door meeting at the Vidhana Soudha on Monday. The presentation lasted a couple of hours and all top bureaucrats, including Chief Secretary Aravind Jadhav, were present.

Financial performance of departments such as Housing, Medical Education and Labour was around 70% to 80 %. Only two departments - IT&BT and Tourism - were able to achieve 100% performance in the last financial year. Besides, the government’s plan expenditure has witnessed a decline in the past three years. Apparently upset with the dismal picture, Siddaramaiah directed the officials to pull up their socks and strive to provide effective administration.

“Ensure implementation of budgetary programmes in a time-bound manner. Clear files on the spot, conduct field inspection regularly and take action against erring officials,” he said.

Not just taking bribe, keeping files pending without valid reason is also corruption as such delay affects people the most. The heads of departments should conduct a review and ensure that files are cleared.

Officials cannot give excuses for lapses by blaming other departments. Problems, if any, should immediately be brought to the notice of higher officials and resolved, he said.

Later speaking to reporters, he said he had set June-end deadline for the department heads to obtain approvals for all action plans. Implementation of all budgetary schemes and programmes should record at least 70% progress by November-end, he said.