Punjab seeks local bodies' uplift budget details

With only five months left in current fiscal year, questions arise on funds' full utilisation

RAWALPINDI:

With only five months left in the current fiscal year, the Punjab government has asked all local bodies, including the Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation (RMC) and Rawalpindi District Council, to submit details of their development budgets.

According to sources, the chief minister's secretariat will issue guidelines for initiating development projects in consultation with public representatives.

All development budgets must be utilised by June 30, 2025, they said.

Sources also said the administrative and financial control of local bodies in Punjab currently rests with the bureaucracy due to the absence of local government elections.

Meanwhile, members of the national and provincial assemblies have been utilising separate funds from the federal and Punjab governments for development projects in their constituencies. Consequently, local bodies have been directed to submit details of their allocated development budgets for the current fiscal year.

Based on this data, comprehensive guidelines for initiating development schemes in collaboration with lawmakers will be issued across Punjab.

The municipal corporation has already submitted details of its development budget through the commissioner of Rawalpindi and the administrator of the municipal corporation.

These reports reveal that the corporation has development funds amounting to Rs3.87 billion.

These funds are earmarked for maintenance, repair, and restoration projects as per the planning.

However, with the fiscal year that began on July 1, 2024, nearing its end on June 30, 2025, only five months remain to utilise these funds.

The Rawalpindi district includes several local bodies, such as the RMC, district council, and municipal committees in the six tehsils of Rawalpindi City, Rawalpindi Cantonment, Kahuta, Kallar Syedan, Gujar Khan, and Taxila.

Following Murree's elevation to district status, its municipal matters are now managed by the Murree Municipal Corporation, while Kotli Sattian operates under a municipal committee.

Sources indicate that in the first seven months of the fiscal year, due to the lack of clear guidelines from the competent authorities, most local bodies in the Rawalpindi district have only undertaken minor maintenance and repair work within their controlled areas.

Major development projects have been carried out using grants obtained by members of the national and provincial assemblies from federal and provincial governments.