Community development budget misused

KOHALPUR, May 8: The budget meant for community-based development under various heads has been regularly misused. This was the major conclusion of officials during a district-level meeting held in Nepalgunj on Tuesday.



The meeting, coordinated by Banke District Development Committee, was attended by village development Committee (VDC) secretaries and officials from Wada Nagarik Manch and Nagarik Sachetana Kendra. [break]



Of the total budget distributed through the VDCs, half is allocated under community development and the remaining amount is released under other budget heads.



Explaining the problem, Bagheshowri VDC Secretary Puspa Shrestha spoke of political power play. “Local party cadres and even Wada Nagarik Manch officials try to divert the budget allocated for a specific community to other uses. This is the main reason budget money has not been properly used,” he said.



The budget allocated for the development of various communities has to be released under heads such as women, children, agriculture, marginalized communities and infrastructure development.



“The budget has been used less on infrastructure development projects and most of the money allocated for women, children and marginalized communities is misused,” said Shrestha.

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