District council presents Rs2bn budget

It was not passed; will be sent to finance committee for review

CHITRAL: The district government of Chitral presented a salary and non-salary budget with a total outlay of over Rs2 billion in a district council session on Friday.

The budget was presented in the District Council Hall and was chaired by Chitral naib nazim Maulana Abdul Shakoor. On the occasion, district nazim Maghfirat Shah expressed his reservations over cuts in the allocated budget for various departments.

“Chitral’s residents have already been deprived of their rights and have been affected by floods and torrential rains that have washed away the entire infrastructure in the district,” Shah said.

He lashed out at the provincial government for running an axe on the budget.

According to Shah, the public departments should improve their working standards and provide relief to the public.

Allocations

Out of the budget, Rs290 million were said to be allocated to the health sector while over Rs120 million have been announced for the revenue and estate department. Over Rs60 million have been set aside for the public health engineering department whereas Rs110 million will be given to the construction and works department. In addition, Rs48 million and Rs30.8 million have been allocated for the livestock and agriculture departments, respectively, in the district.

However, the budget was not approved by the council as Shakoor suggested it should be sent to the finance committee for review. He said it could be presented in the district assembly after the review.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 21^st, 2016.