Unused funds: Rawal, Potohar town approve budgets

Two towns unveil budgets totalling Rs1.82 billion.

Two towns’ administrations have approved their budgets for the year 2011-12.

The administration of Rawal Town gave a nod to the more than Rs1.1 billion tax-free budget of the Town Municipal Administration (TMA) on Thursday.

According to the breakup, around Rs334.65 million have been allocated for non-development expenditures, including Rs64 million for salaries, Rs144 million for contingency services and commodities and Rs26 million for miscellaneous expenditures.

The budget document, approved by the Rawal Town Administrator Assistant Commissioner Saif Anwar Jappa, with the opening balance of Rs333.5 million the TMA expects a revenue of Rs454 million during the next fiscal year. The document showed a surplus of Rs69 million.

Major chunk of the budget, Rs778.5 million, has been made for development projects. An amount of Rs384 million remained in the accounts of the TMA as unused development funds.

The TMA has also allocated Rs20 million for the purchase, service and replacement of officers` cars. In the budget, Rs14 million have been earmarked for repair and maintenance and Rs11 million for installation of streetlights and Rs10 million for pensions.

An amount of Rs394 million has been allocated for new development projects to be launched through the citizens community boards. A sum of Rs5.7 million has been allocated for sports and Rs3 million for provision of interest-free loans to the employees of TMA for construction of houses.

Potohar Town

Potohar Town Administrator Talat Mehmood Gondal approved the surplus budget with a total outlay of Rs718 million for the fiscal year 2011-12.  A sum of Rs129 million has been allocated for non-development expenditures, including Rs93 million for salaries and Rs30 million for contingency services. An amount of Rs587 million has been set aside for development projects. The funds which the town could not utilise last year, have been increased this time around. During the fiscal year 2010-11, the Potohar Town failed to use the development budget and Citizen Community Board (CCB) fund worth Rs158 million. This year, CCB funds have been increased to Rs335 million and 261 million are expected to be added in it.



Published in The Express Tribune, July 2^nd, 2011.