COVID-19 severely impacts development works

Kathmandu : The spread of corona virus infection has badly impacted the development construction works and agriculture sector in the districts of Province No. 1.

As the local government adopted the policy to spend for corona virus containment by reducing the development budget, the projects selected through people’s participation are in limbo.

The projects of the province government are the worst hit after the coronavirus pandemic.

The Province Government has given a nod to spend just 50 per cent of the budget in the regular cost of different agencies.

Crop Conservation Officer of Agriculture Knowledge Centre, Ilam, Hemraj Panta said the Province Government has frozen 20 per cent budget in the second phase after 30 per cent in the first phase.

The Province Government has allocated Rs 604.4 million for the Centre in the current fiscal year. Last week, the Centre received permission to spend only 50 per cent of its budget.

Most of the programmes for commercial and cas犀利士 h crops have been curtailed in Ilam, Panta shared.
However, the Centre has received a nod to implement all the programmes from the Federal Government. All the programmes of Rs 32.8 million from the Prime Minister Agriculture Modernisation Programme received for Centre have been approved.

Likewise, the Urban Development and Building Office Division, Ilam, has also got approval to spend just 50 per cent of its budget from the Province Government. Division Chief Rudra Narayan Mishra said that now his Office will spend only Rs 160 million.

The Province Government has also written to the offices not to implement projects that create new liabilities.
So many other agencies carrying out development activities under the Province Government are also facing the same fate in Ilam, officials complained.

• Ganga Parajuli