26 January 2004	Monday	03 Zilhaj 1424

PESHAWAR, Jan 25: Most of the district governments of NWFP could not utilize even 10 per cent of the amount released to them for development works during the first five months of the current financial year, said official sources.

They named a host of issues which prevented the districts from properly utilizing the uplift funds allotted to them. The provincial government released a sum of Rs 216 million to district governments in the first quarter of the current financial year for development works.

"But they could hardly spent a total of Rs 19 million making about 8.9 per cent of the funds released to them during the first quarter of the current fiscal year," said a senior government functionary.

Low utilisation of development funds was the result of some 13 districts' inability to formulate their respective development strategies and get them approved by their respective district councils for the current financial year.

"Unless district governments get passed their annual development programmes (ADPs) passed from their respective councils they can not utilise the funds put at their disposal," said an officer.

The district governments' failure to put their ADPs in place has been attributed to a host of issues, by chiefly to incapacity and inefficiency on the part of their departments to prepare their sectoral strategies for the current financial year in time.

Besides, procedural complications experienced by most of the district governments in the process of getting funds transferred from the provincial government to them, has also been described another reason for their failure to finalise their ADPs for the 2003-04 financial year.

Nonetheless the districts who had got their ADPS approved from their respective district councils could not ensure speedy utilisation of funds put at their disposal during the first quarter.

"Though 11 districts got their ADPs passed from the district councils, not all of them could bring the funds under utilisation," said an officer. According to official documents available with Dawn, there are only five districts who incurred development expenditure.

Districts which recorded development expenditure - out of the funds put at their disposal - include D.I. Khan, Karak, Kohat, Mardan and Swabi. They separately spent 59 per cent, 100 per cent, 9 per cent, 3.6 per cent and 26.5 per cent, respectively, out of the funds released to them for development activities during the first quarter.

Swabi district incurred a development expenditure even without getting its ADP approved from the district council. A senior finance manager of the province said that utilizing funds without getting the ADP passed from the district council amounts to violation of the local government ordinance, 2001.

"It is illegal and can elicit objections from the Audit Department when the (audit) exercise would be undertaken," said the finance manager. Those districts which could not record expenditures include Chitral, Haripur, Kohistan, Lakki Marwat, Nowshera, Shangla and Tank.

Though these districts reported "zero expenditure" against the funds released to them separately in the first quarter, some of them might have undertaken development works and expenditure against such schemes would be reported in the progress report of the second quarter.