VDCs to get grants up to Rs 4.6 million

THE Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development (MoFALD) has increased the upper limit of the grant given to village development committees (VDCs). VDCs will now get up to Rs 4.6 million, while the minimum grant amount has been left unchanged at Rs 1.5 million. Earlier, the maximum grant amount a VDC would get from the central government was Rs 3 million. The budget for the current fiscal year had announced increasing the grant limit for VDCs. While the grant amount is directly provided to the VDCs, they can also get additional resources under various programmes run by government agencies, according to the ministry. The ministry also determined the amount that municipalities and district development committees (DDCs) receive from the government as grant. There is no tradition of fixing the maximum grant limit for municipalities and DDCs. While determining the grant for the VDCs, population will be given 60 percent weightage, per capita cost 30 percent and area 10 percent. A total of Rs 8.21 billion has been allocated for the VDCs, according to ministry. “The population size — based on the census of 2011 — has been taken as reference for the first time in determining the grant to local governments,” said the ministry’s spokesperson Dinesh Chandra Thapaliya. “Allocating the same amount to VDCs will different population size will not be justifiable.” There are a total of 3,915 VDCs across the country. Of them, 263 VDCs which will get grant in the range of Rs 4 million to Rs 4.6 million, while 335 VDCs will get from Rs 3 million to 3.99 million. Likewise, 770 VDCs will receive Rs 2-2.99 million, and 2,547 VDCs will get Rs 1.5-1.99 million, according to the ministry. As far as the municipalities are concerned, the government will provide a total of Rs 1.15 billion to 58 municipalities. Kathmandu Metropolitan City will receive the maximum amount of Rs 152.44 million, while Siraha will get the lowest Rs 4.31 million to spend in development activities. Grant allocation to the municipalities is based on population, area, per capita cost, human development indicators and capacity to increase internal revenue. Siraha municipality should have received just Rs 1.3 million as per the formula, but Thapaliya said as per the government’s policy, grant amount cannot be less than the lower limit of Rs 3 million. Siraha is also one of the five municipalities that failed in the minimum condition performance measures (MCPM) evaluation. Thapaliya said such municipalities will be provided an additional amount up to Rs 8 million to enhance their capacity. Other municipalities failing in the MCPM are — Biratnagar, Kamalamai, Bhimeshwor and Gorkha. For municipalities, up to 70 percent of the grant is determined based on MCPM, while 30 percent based on the formula. As for the District Development Committees, Kathmandu DDC will receive the highest amount of Rs 87.33 million, followed by Bara (Rs 70.2 million) and Morang (Rs 69.74 million). Dadeldhura will receive the lowest amount of Rs 22.51 million. The grant minimum amount for DDCs is set at Rs 4 million. The grant amount to be given to the DDCs is determined based on the formula and MCPM. Among the DDCs, Jumla, Kalikot, Dedeldhura, Dhanusa, Mahottarai and Sarlahi failed in the MCPM evaluation. “They will get an additional amount up to Rs 3 million from minimum for capacity enhancement,” said Thapaliya. A total of Rs 3.2 billion has been allocated for the DDCs.