Kathmandu, Apr. 29: Organizing a public hearing at Jawalakhel, Lalitpur Metropolitan City (LMC) has stated that it has been able to spend only 45.71 percent of its budget in the first 9 months of this fiscal year.
It had spent Rs. 3.42 billion of its total Rs. 7.50 billion budget announced for the fiscal year 2022/23. Within this, the regular expenditure is 70 percent while the capital expenditure stands at only 34.9 percent.
In the question of why the capital expenditure was so low, LMC Deputy Mayor Manjali Shakya Bajracharya replied that several policies and laws had prevented the metropolis from working. Mayor Chiri Babu Maharjan also responded that the capital spending was low but felt that it was still higher than the federal and provincial governments.
LMC’s Chief Administrative Officer Ganesh Aryal also informed that the city expected to earn Rs. 2.40 billion in revenue this fiscal year and had raised 61.66 percent of that amount. The city’s debts had also been decreasing. It was 9.83 percent of its expenditure in the fiscal year 2019/20 but only 4.15 percent in the last fiscal year.
The city said that it had installed 2,238 smart street lights and 91 CCTV Cameras, constructed 10.7 kilometres of disabled-friendly footpath and built 6.18 kilometres of cycle lanes.
It provided Rs. 120,000 each to the families of the 392 Lalitpur residents who died of COVID-19. It also provided Rs. 60,000 each to the 118 people who were admitted to Intensive Care Units (ICUs) and Critical Care Units (CCUs) for treatment of the disease and Rs. 30,000 to the 433 people who obtained general treatment for the corona virus infection.
