KHOTANG, July 31

Millions of rupees of the government budget has been frozen in Khotang and Ramechhap in the fiscal year 2014-15.

In Khotang alone, around 341 million rupees has returned without being used. According to the district treasury controller Kashinath Khanal, freezing of the budget has to do with the tardy work of development plans running in the district.

“Though the administration’s expenditure stands at 95 per cent, around 35 per cent of the budget had to be frozen as the consumer committees of the development plans bothered little to complete the plans in time,” said Khanal, also attributing the budget freeze to a few plans whose works started late in the fiscal.

On his part, Local Development Officer, Mahendra Kumar Sapkota, also held the consumer committees responsible for the budget freeze.

“As consumer committees don’t bother to complete the projects in time and local political parties too are not bothered about these things, they have contributed to the budget freeze ultimately,” he argued. In Ramechhap, around 279 million rupees has been frozen. The budget freeze is also linked to the recent earthquake.