KATHMANDU, APR 27 -
Far-western Development Region has the highest poverty level, but when
it comes to resources distribution, the region is ignored by both the
government and the donors.
The region has received the lowest resources allocation of 12.18 percent in the budget for the current fiscal year.
Same is the story when it comes to foreign aid disbursement. Of the
total foreign aid that went to district-level projects, the region
received the lowest disbursement in the last fiscal year.
Of the total $960 million disbursed in last fiscal year, $565.63
million was for district level projects, according to Development
Cooperation Report (DCR) 2012-13 prepared by the Finance Ministry.
The report shows the region received foreign assistance worth $78.13
million in the last fiscal year, whereas the Central Region received the
highest $159.52 million. Same was the situation in the previous year,
when the Far-west got $66.88 million in foreign assistance.
“Disbursement continues to have no co-relation with the level of
poverty,” states the report.
According to the Nepal Living Standard Survey, the poverty head count
ratio in the far west is 45.61 percent, while it is 21.96 percent in the
Central Region.
Finance Ministry officials admit the region hasn’t received enough
foreign assistance given the poverty situation. “Other reasons for low
aid disbursement include the few road projects connecting district
headquarters have been completed and there are no many projects compared
to other regions,” said Kailash Pokharel, under secretary at the
ministry’s foreign aid division.
However, experts say the region’s low absorption capacity has to be
blamed for low foreign aid. Former National Planning Commission
Vice-chairman Dipendra Bahadhur Kshetry said due to poor infrastructure
development, limited road access and lower education level, the aid
meant for the region has not been spent well.
Kshetry said due to remoteness of the region, those responsible for
implementing the projects do not reach there, which reduces the
absorption of resources.
The report shows after the Central Region, the Mid-western Region
received the second highest aid disbursement, followed by the Eastern
and Western regions.
The report shows if on-budget (those reflected in the budget) and
off-budget (those not reflected in the budget) disbursements are
combined, Kathmandu has the highest amount of disbursement ($21.14 million) followed by Sind-huli, Kailali, Kaski and Surkhet.
Those receiving the lowest aid disbursement are Mustang ($3.10
million), Gorkha and Terhathum ($3.71 million), Nuwakot ($4.12 million)
and Illam ($4.22 million).
However, in terms of on budget disbursement, Sindhuli has the highest disbursement ($17.08 million), followed by Ramechhap, Kathmandu
, Okhaldhunga and Solukhumbu. The largest amount of disbursement in
Sindhuli district is partly due to implementation of Sindhuli Road
Project.
“Aid flow from the perspective of donor engagement at the district
level does not show reliable evidences as to why they are mostly engaged
in districts like Kath-mandu, Kailali, Achham, Banke, Bardiya and
Surkhet, and less in Manang, Mustang, Gulmi, Bhoj-pur and Parbat,”
states the report.
“Moreover, donor engagement is not seen on the basis of poverty level
of the districts. This may require further research to deepen an
understanding of the causes of donor engagement in a specific district
and the mechanism by which the donor agencies select districts/regions
for project implementation.”
No comments:
Post a Comment