By: Muhammad Ijaz Afridi
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Department has been facing serious challenges that may lead to the lapsing of funds allocated for local development in the budget for the current fiscal year 2024-25.
As of the start of the third quarter of this fiscal year, the department has only utilized Rs50 million out of a total allocation of Rs3 billion and 240 million. By February 24, the Finance Department had released Rs675 million for local development projects.
Sources indicate that the Local Government Department had included 67 local development projects in its annual development program for this fiscal year. However, none of the planned 26 projects have received any funding to date, despite regular allocations being made in the budget.
It has also been decided to include eight of these projects in the next fiscal year 2025-26. Meanwhile, funds have been released for 29 projects, according to an official from the Finance Department.
Due to a lack of available funds, most departments have not received their allocations this year, with priority being given to public interest projects.
Additionally, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Finance Department has requested details on lapsed funds from all provincial departments, raising concerns that more than Rs1.5 billion rupees allocated for local development may go unused.
