Belated allocation of funds irks 11 districts

The government has released a total of Rs 75.4 million to 11 districts and asked them to spend the amount before mid-July. The amount is a portion of mountaineering royalty that the government mobilized from different mountains over the past five years. As per the Local Self Governance Act, the government must allocate 30 percent of the amount collected as mountaineering permit fees to districts from where it is collected. The amount is supposed to be used for tourism development and to create jobs. The government released the amount to district development committees of Sankhuwasbha, Dolakha, Rasuwa, Gorkha, Kaski, Myagdi, Manang and Mustang about a week ago. Solukhumbu, which is home to Mt Everest - the tallest peak on earth, received the highest allocation of Rs 27.5 million. The decision to release budget at the eleventh hour, however, has drawn flak. According to sources at the tourism ministry, district development committees of Solukhumbu, Lamjung and Taplejung have urged the government to make an alternative arrangement so that the budget is not frozen when the fiscal year ends in mid July. “We do not have sufficient time to spend the amount within this fiscal year. Hurried spending won´t yield good results,” a letter sent to the tourism ministry by District Development Committee, Lamjung reads. Mohan Krishna Sapkota, spokesperson for the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, admitted that there was a technical error as the amount was released after a hiatus of five years. “We are trying to release the amount in alternative accounts of the local bodies so that the amount does not get frozen,” he added.