Uttarakhand govt looks for fund to meet its Rs 268 crore national games liability

The Uttarakhand government is bewildered to manage excess expenditure to the tune of Rs 368 crore incurred to it during National Games 2025.

State sports department, designated nodal agency for 2025 National Games, is working on a plan to pay its ₹268 crore excess expenditure from the savings of other departments.

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Department owes the excess spent money to the agencies outsourced by it to the work during national Games. Various agencies and firms were hired by the sports department to conduct National Games that had earned laurels to the Pushkar Singh Dhami government.

Sports department special secretary and IPS officer Amit Sinha has formally asked five other departments to share their unspent funds in the current financial year.

Officials of the state sports department have informed that the department is having a debt of ₹268 crore owing to our excess expenditure during national Games 2025 organised in the state from January 28 to February15.

According to them , special principal secretary sports Amit Sinha has written letters to the secretaries of the Education, Higher Education, Youth Welfare, Technical Education and Culture Department seeking information about funds not spent by in the current financial year that will end on March 31.

Sinha has asked these departments to reallocate and re-appropriate their unutilised funds for paying the debt of the sports department.

“Financial year 2024-25 is coming to an end. Austerity in the government expenditure is necessary in view of the aproved income and expenditure demands along with the Appropriation Act, 2024. However, ensuring austerity is not the responsibility of the finance department alone but all administrative departments.” Said Sinha in his letter to the departments.

Sinha’s letter further asked the targeted departments “to share clear information about funds available through savings in various revenue heads including salary grants in the financial year 2024-25 and is unlikely to be used in this financial year. These savings could be used for the liabilities of the National Games through reappropriation.”

Sports department officials have stated that around ₹800 crore were spent under capital and revenue heads during National Games. However more than ₹268 crore of the expenditure has become a liability to the department.

State finance secretary Dilip Javalkar said that he has information about the excess expanses by the department during national games. He said “the matter is in the knowledge of the government. More money was spent than the amount provided in the budget for National Games. Special Principal Secretary Sports has requested the departments to provide the savings at the end of the financial year and suitable action will be taken by the government.”