{"id":48820,"date":"2025-05-30T15:08:34","date_gmt":"2025-05-30T09:38:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=48820"},"modified":"2025-05-30T15:08:34","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T09:38:34","slug":"government-tightens-norms-for-css-and-cs-schemes-continuation-post-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/government-tightens-norms-for-css-and-cs-schemes-continuation-post-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Government Tightens Norms for CSS and CS Schemes Continuation Post-2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Evidence-Based Policy and Fiscal Prudence Latest News<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>As India gears up for the 16th Finance Commission cycle (from 1st April 2026 to 31st March 2031), the Union Government has\u00a0<strong>mandated third-party evaluation<\/strong>\u00a0as a precondition for the continuation of\u00a0<strong>Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS)<\/strong>\u00a0and C<strong>entral Sector Schemes (CS)<\/strong>\u00a0beyond March 31, 2026.<\/li>\n<li>There are 54 CSSs and 260 CSs which have their terminal date of approval till 31.03.2026 and are likely to be submitted for re-appraisal.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Current Evaluation Process<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>NITI Aayog<\/strong>, the government\u2019s top think tank, is currently conducting evaluation of the CSSs.<\/li>\n<li>This exercise is to be completed shortly and the draft reports will be shared with the respective ministries and departments.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Key Directives from the Ministry of Finance<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>No CSS or CS scheme will be appraised for continuation without third-party evaluation.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Evaluation\u00a0<\/strong>must reflect positive outcomes, justification of mandate, and performance-based necessity.<\/li>\n<li>Such exercise in the past had allowed the Central Government to\u00a0<strong>enhance its capital expenditure substantially\u00a0<\/strong>which now stands at Rs. 11.21 lakh crore for FY 2025-26 (BE).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Timeline for Ministries<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The ministries and departments have been asked to conduct evaluation studies of their schemes\u00a0<strong>by the end of July this year<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Get approval for continuation of schemes beyond March 31, 2026 from the\u00a0<strong>Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC)<\/strong>\u00a0before the start of the budget making process.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Financial Allocations for 16th Finance Cycle<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Allocation formula:\u00a0<\/strong>Ministries will get allocations\u00a0<strong>5.5 times<\/strong>\u00a0their average actual expenditure during 2021-22 to 2025-26.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Requests for increased allocation:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>For example, the Ministry of Health &amp; Family Welfare sought more funds for\u00a0<strong>vaccination programs.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Cabinet Secretary cautioned ministries against inflated projections,\u00a0<strong>urging realistic budgeting.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>About CSS and CS<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>CSSs<\/strong>\u00a0are programs\u00a0<strong>funded mostly\u00a0<\/strong>by the Union Government and\u00a0<strong>implemented\u00a0<\/strong>by State Governments.\u00a0<strong>Examples<\/strong>: PM Poshan Scheme, PM Awas Yojana (Gramin).<\/li>\n<li><strong>CSs<\/strong>, on the other hand, are\u00a0<strong>fully funded and implemented<\/strong>\u00a0by the Union Government. This means, they are\u00a0<strong>executed directly<\/strong>\u00a0through central ministries\/departments.\u00a0<strong>Examples<\/strong>: National Digital Health Mission, PLI Scheme.<\/li>\n<li><strong>These schemes cover a wide gamut<\/strong>, from social sectors like health, women and child development, school and higher education, tribal welfare to agriculture sector, urban and rural infrastructure, environment, scientific research etc.<\/li>\n<li>While in case of\u00a0<strong>CSs<\/strong>, the government of India bears\u00a0<strong>100%\u00a0<\/strong>of the cost, in case of\u00a0<strong>CSSs<\/strong>, the scheme expenditure is shared in a predefined ratio between the central and the state governments (<strong>60:40\/75:25\/90:10<\/strong>).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Government\u2019s insistence on rigorous third-party evaluations before the continuation of CSS and CS schemes\u00a0<strong>marks a shift toward evidence-based policy and fiscal prudence<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>With the 16th Finance Commission&#8217;s recommendations looming, ministries must\u00a0<strong>align their priorities with realistic and performance-driven outcomes<\/strong>, making this a crucial development in India&#8217;s public finance architecture.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Evidence-Based Policy and Fiscal Prudence FAQs<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Q1.\u00a0<\/strong>What is the key condition imposed by the Ministry of Finance for the continuation of Centrally Sponsored and Central Sector Schemes beyond March 31, 2026?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans.<\/strong>\u00a0The schemes must undergo mandatory third-party evaluation demonstrating positive outcomes and continued relevance to be considered for continuation in the 16th Finance Commission cycle.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q2.<\/strong>\u00a0Differentiate between Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) and Central Sector Schemes (CS) with suitable examples.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans.\u00a0<\/strong>CSS are jointly funded by the Centre and States (e.g., PM Awas Yojana), whereas CS are entirely funded and implemented by the Centre (e.g., Production Linked Incentive Scheme).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q3.<\/strong>\u00a0What formula will be used to determine ministry-wise fund allocation during the 16th Finance Commission period (2026\u20132031)?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans.<\/strong>\u00a0Ministries will receive an allocation 5.5 times their average actual annual expenditure from 2021-22 to 2025-26.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q4.<\/strong>\u00a0What role is NITI Aayog currently playing in the appraisal process of government schemes?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans.\u00a0<\/strong>NITI Aayog is conducting third-party evaluations of Centrally Sponsored Schemes and is expected to submit draft reports to the respective ministries.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q5.<\/strong>\u00a0Why is the upcoming 16th Finance Commission cycle significant from the perspective of public financial management and governance?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans.<\/strong>\u00a0It introduces outcome-based funding and encourages fiscal discipline and accountability in scheme continuation and budget planning.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/3rd-party-evaluation-must-for-central-schemes-to-go-on-beyond-march-2026-10037481\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Union Government has mandated third-party evaluation as a precondition for the continuation of Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) and Central Sector Schemes (CS) beyond March 31, 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":48818,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[633,60,22,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-48820","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-evidence-based-policy-and-fiscal-prudence","9":"tag-mains-articles","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}