Govt cuts budget for district projects

POST REPORT KATHMANDU, AUG 11 RESOURCE allocation for local-level projects in the districts has declined by Rs 5.84 billion in the current fiscal year, with

the government setting aside Rs 81.49 billion for the purpose through current budget. The government had allocated Rs 87.33 billion for the fiscal year 2011-12. As the government failed to present annual budget on time last year, it did not allocate the annual budget for districtlevel projects Each year, National Planning Commission (NPC) and ministries concerned fix the budget for the districts based on the target of the three-year plan, aim of the local projects, strategy and priority of the government, and criteria followed by the ministries to select the projects. Normally, a majority of the district-level projects include infrastructure development such as construction of local roads, bridges, drinking water and irrigation. An official at the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport said that the total size of budget for districts this year might have come down after the government included big projects in central level budgets. “It also suggests the government is not giving priority to local development works,” the official added. In terms of district-wise distribution of the budget, Kathmandu has received the highest resources. It has been allocated Rs 3.98 billion, which is 4.89 percent of the total budget set aside for district level projects. The other districts landing larger share are Kailali (Rs 1.72 billion), Morang (Rs 1.71 billion), Lalitpur (Rs 1.62 billion) and Jhapa (Rs 1.60 billion) Manang, Mustang and Terhathum are the three districts which have been allocated least resources with budget of Rs 249.36 million, Rs 331.8 million and Rs 550.8 million respectively. Despite the small size of the budget set for Morang and Mustang, the per capita budget in the two districts still works out to be higher due to low population there. Though the districts in the Far West are considered the leastdeveloped, the allocation of resources to the region is lowest in comparison with other regions. The region has traditionally received the lowest budget, and it was no different this time around. The Far West has the fewest number of districts among the country’s five development regions. In fact, the budget for the Far West has declined this fiscal compare to what it received two years ago. The region received Rs 9.92 billion which is 12.18 percent of the total district-level budget. In fiscal year 2011-12, the government had substantially increased funds for districts in the region allocating Rs 10.53 billion. As usual, the Central region has received the highest resources amounting to Rs 24.49 billion, followed by the Eastern region (Rs 16.24 billion), the Western region (Rs 15.48 billion) and the Mid-western region (Rs 15.04 billion). REGION-WISE BUDGET ALLOCATION Amount Percent Eastern Region Rs 16.243 billion 19.93 Central Region Rs 24.796 billion 30.43 Western Region Rs 15.486 billion 19.00 Mid Western Region Rs 15.041 billion 18.46 Far Western Region Rs 9.923 billion 12.18 Total Rs 81.490 billion TOP FIVE DISTRICTS IN TERMS OF BUDGET ALLOCATION BUDGET PERCENTAGE SHARE Kathmandu Rs 3.983 billion 4.89% Kailali Rs 1.722 billion 2.11% Morang Rs 1.713 billion 2.10% Lalitpur Rs 1.620 billion 1.99% Jhapa Rs 1.607 billion 1.97%