PESHAWAR, Aug 30: Only two districts in the NWFP have qualified for receiving matching grant from the provincial government by virtue of raising additional revenue during the 2005-6 financial year, according to sources.

In line with the Provincial Finance Commission award, district governments raising receipts more than their target are eligible to receive matching grants from the provincial government.

Section 116 of the Local Government Ordinance, 2001, empowers local councils to levy taxes, cess, fess, rents, tolls, charges, surcharges and levies specified in the second schedule by notification in the official gazette.

Information collected from official circles revealed that the provincial government’s initiative did not yield the desired results during the past five years.

The district governments of Bannu and Haripur lodged claims with the provincial government for receiving matching grant during 2005-6, the sources said.

Bannu district government received matching grant of Rs10 million and Harripur Rs5 million.

Both of them recorded additional income through receipts raised by their works and services departments.

“None of the other 22 districts in the province lodged claim for the grant,” said an official.

The sources said that in 2004-5 too a couple of district governments had fulfilled the criteria to qualify for the matching grant.

“The district nazims lack the initiative to improve their revenue collection as they think introducing new levies will affect their vote bank,” said an official.

The provincial government had repeatedly sent reminders to the district government about their legal obligation to find new avenues of revenue generation and improve collection, the sources said. They said a majority of the district governments ignored the instructions.