DHANGADHI: Less than 15 per cent of the total budget has been expended by Sudurpaschim Province government till the end of the third quarter of the current fiscal year 2075/76 BS.

As the implementation of plans and programmes has not picked up the much required pace, only 14.69 per cent of the total budget has been spent with the fiscal nearly coming to a close.

According to the Provincial Office of the Financial Comptroller, 13.27 per cent of the budget was spent under capital expenditure while 17.37 per cent was spent under current expenditure. Accounts Officer at the Office, Yagya Raj Pandeya informed that Rs 1.56 billion was spent under capital expenditure while 2.13 billion was spent under current expenditure.

Even with the current fiscal almost coming to a close, the province government has not been able to implement some popular programmes included in the budget such as operation of province bus service, establishment of industrial zone, tourism board, province electricity development board, among others.

The province government has cited the lack of human resources as the main reason behind the delay in programme implementation, as a result of which major chunk of the budget has remained unspent.