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Revised budget presented in the zilla council

By Zahiruddin

CHITRAL: District nazim Chitral Maghfirat Shah presented the revised budget of the district government in the zilla council here on Wednesday with an increase of 34.823 million rupees in the non-salary component while no change was proposed in the development budget for the remaining fiscal year. The session was chaired by Sultan Shah and the members of the house started discussion on the revised budget proposals which will continue on Thursday. In his budget speech, the district nazim said that the district government has always its level best to present the problems of the district in all available forums and has achieved considerable success. Describing the achievements of the efforts of the district government, he said that with the aid of Norwegian government, a 100 million rupees multi-sector development project is being launched in the district by the month of June. He said that the project will work on the basis of community participation and will play a pivotal role to alleviate backwardness of the area. He said that the forest department has approved two projects each of 15 million rupees for afforestation and ecological rehabilitation in Sheshi Koh valley and Arandu during the current fiscal year. For the rural development and poverty alleviation in the border area of Baroghil, Pakistan Wetland Programme has launched a project of 11.79 million US dollars, he said. Enumerating the other special initiative projects, the nazim described the Livelihood Programme of Ayun and Kalash valleys with the aid of Swiss government and livestock development project for Garam Chashma valley. He added that the district government has diverted a large chunk of its resources for the sectors of education and health in the district. He said that for the rehabilitation and repair of the roads, the works and services department have been allocated a hefty amount of 17.5 million rupees. Some of the members insisted on the submission of the report of income generation committee which was presented by the district coordination officer Mutasim Billah Shah. He said that to generate additional income on local basis, the committee had considered on levying taxes on non-custom paid vehicles, privately managed schools and colleges, hotels, mobile phone companies, miners and transportation of timber from the district. He said that the committee has evolved a strategy to be presented in the house by the next session after removing some of the legal hurdles as some of these do not fall within the jurisdiction of the district government. Later on, the members started discussion on the budget and discussed the efficiency of the devolved departments. Abdul Haq from Broze union council opposed the raise in the non-salary budget of fisheries department contending that the department is in totally dormant state and its efficiency is nil despite enjoying resources. He said that the fisheries on private sector is on steep progress and has made available fish on commercial scale in the local market while the fisheries department has miserably failed and is merely wasting the public resources. He also criticized the livestock department and the district headquarters hospital. Amirullah, Fazal Bari, Mohammad wazir Khan and others also took part in the discussion. On its seating of Thursday, the house will also take up the security measures to main peace and order in the district.