COVID-19 severely impacts development work 

Pashupatinagar, Jan 5 (RSS):

The spread of coronavirus has badly impacted various construction projects and affected the agriculture sector in the districts of Province No. 1.

As the local government adopted the policy to spend for coronavirus containment by diverting the development budget, the projects selected for people’s participation are in limbo.

The projects of the provincial government are the worst hit after the coronavirus pandemic.
The Province Government has given the nod to spend just 50 per cent of the budget in the regular cost of different agencies.

Crop Conservation Officer of Agriculture Knowledge Centre, Ilam, Hemraj Panta said the Province Government froze 20 per cent budget in the second phase after 30 per cent in the first phase.

The Province Government has allocated Rs 604.4 million for the Centre in the current fiscal year. Last week, the Centre received permission to spend only 50 per cent of its allocated budget.

Most of the programmes for commercial and cash crops have been curtailed in Ilam, Panta shared.
However, the Centre has received a nod to implement all the programmes from the Federal Government. All the plans under the Rs 32.8 million grant from the Prime Minister Agriculture Modernisation Programme for the Centre have been approved.

Likewise, the Urban Development and Building Office Division, Ilam, has also got approval to spend just 50 per cent of its budget from the Province Government. Division Chief Rudra Narayan Mishra said that now his Office will spend only Rs 160 million.

The Province Government has also written to the offices not to implement projects that create new liabilities.

Several other agencies carrying out development activities under the Province Government face the same fate in Ilam, officials complained.