RAWALPINDI, Nov 22: The district Nazim, Raja Tariq Kiani, will present a Rs305.5 million budget before the district council for approval on November 30, officials told Dawn on Thursday.

They said, 55 per cent of the budget, amounting to Rs166.8 million, had been allocated for development projects, while Rs138.6 million would be spent on non-development schemes.

The district Naib Nazim, Raja Javed Ikhlas, said it had been decided in principle that no new development schemes were to be initiated, rather only the ongoing ones would be completed.

This decision, he said, had been taken to avoid wastage of funds. The past administrations, he added, rescinded all the projects of their predecessors and started new ones, resulting in huge loss of government funds.

The district government will also spend Rs170 million, to be received under Khushal Pakistan Programme (KPP), on various development schemes.

Mr Ikhlas said 50 per cent of the KPP funds, amounting to Rs85 million, would be equally distributed among all Tehsils of the district. The remaining amount will be allocated on the basis of the population of various Tehsils.

Under the KPP projects, farm to market roads and electrification of Rawalpindi district villages will be accorded preferences, he added.

In addition to this, the district government will also have another Rs35 million at its disposal to be, preferably, spent on education and health, the district Naib Nazim said. He said focus will be again on strengthening the existing infrastructure, instead of starting new projects.

Under this head, 28 education schemes, 56 drainage projects and 42 road improvement plans have already been identified. The health department has yet to submit its proposals.

The district government is all set to levy a number of taxes including education, health, land revenue and vehicle to generate funds. Sources said besides the district government’s budget, an additional Rs73.9 million had been provided by the provincial government for distribution among all the union councils.

The district government officials have also started a series of meetings with the district council members to seek their recommendations regarding budgetary proposal. This is being done to avoid any recurrence of a past situation when a Tehsil budget session had to be adjourned without any proceedings due to members’ protest.