PESHAWAR, Jan 26: The district governments have been released 50 per cent more funds for development schemes being executed under the provincially funded annual development programme for the 2002-03 financial year.

Sources said that a sum of Rs867 million would be distributed among the 24 district governments during the 2002-03 financial year to carry out those development schemes which would be funded purely by the provincial government.

Fresh disbursement of funds, said the sources, was made at the start of the second half of the current fiscal.

By releasing 50 per cent more funds, the ratio of total funds released for the execution of the provincially funded development schemes reached to 90 per cent.

The sources said that the district governments had been released funds in accordance with a decision taken in June last by the former military backed civilian government in NWFP.

The previous provincial government had decided to release 40 per cent of the total annual development funds to district governments during the first six months of the current financial year and 50 per cent at the start of the second half of the current fiscal.

Latest distribution of funds, according to sources, among the district governments had been made in accordance with their respective share determined in accordance with

the resource distribution formula envisaged under the Provincial Finance Commission award — in its first year of operations.

As per the Provincial Finance Commission award projections the provincial government would distribute a total of Rs15.2 billion among the 24 district governments.

Out of it, a sum of Rs867 million would be provided for development schemes, Rs 911 million in lieu of octroi and Zila tax (abolished by the last Nawaz Sharif government) and Rs1.2 billion for the non-salary component of their expenditure budgets.

Whereas, major sum of Rs12.29 billion would be distributed among the district governments for the payment of salaries to their staff.

In line with the disbursement of development funds, said the sources, the provincial government had recently released 50 per cent of the funds projected to meet the district governments’ non-salary budgetary requirements during the 2002-03 financial year.