Pindi district council prepares tax-free budget

Rs950 million have been envisaged for development schemes

RAWALPINDI:

The Rawalpindi district council has prepared a tax-free budget for the fiscal year 2021-2022 after the restoration of local bodies.

In the total budget of Rs1.27 billion, Rs470 million have been allocated for expenditures including the salaries of the employees while Rs950 million have been allocated for development schemes. The government has also earmarked funds for the civil defence department.

The budget has been prepared by the bureaucracy without taking input from elected representatives. The Rawalpindi district council is the only local body where elections for chairman, vice-chairman, and reserved seats were not conducted because of internal rifts within the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, which has the majority in the council. Less than 40 days are left for the completion of the tenure of restored local bodies. The PMLN-N has not decided whether it will conduct elections on vacant seats.

The district council has become fully functional and 120 union councils with secretaries and other related officials and assets transferred to tehsil council would be returned to the council.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 19^th, 2021.