PESHAWAR, Oct 6: The newly-established district governments are facing problems in dealing with the matters about finance and planning of uplift works as they are not still well versed with the Local Government Ordinance and the financial powers enshrined under it, sources say.
“There are several financial affairs which are not clear to the district finance officers. Therefore, they keep pursuing the provincial authorities concerned to properly maintain their accounts”, official sources say.
“In several instances, district finance officers appear to be least informed about re-appropriation of funds from one head of expenditure to the another”, an official of the NWFP Local Government and Rural Development Department said.
The sources say that in this respect, the provincial government has set May 30, as the deadline for the re-appropriation of funds - both development and non-development expenditures.
The district governments have been instructed to complete re-appropriation of funds from one head to another — in accordance with the laid down rules and regulations concerned — by May 30, of the current financial year, to avoid complications experienced last fiscal year.
Last year, according to sources, the provincial government had initially set April 30, as the cut-off date for the re-appropriation of funds, but the same was allowed to the district governments even in the month of June.
The re-appropriation of funds - both under the development and non-development heads - had been allowed in June to help the newly-formed administrative entities to continue uplift works and meet their important expenditures.
“The provincial government could achieve little by this relaxation during the last fiscal year as district governments of the NWFP did not benefit from the extension in the deadline”, the sources say.
This time, according to the sources, the district governments have been strictly instructed to complete the re-appropriation by the deadline set for the purpose, intimating them that the last financial year’s experience “should not recur again”.