POKHARA, June 13: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Pokhara Metropolitan City has instructed the metropolis to reduce the expenditure on study visits and food and snacks.

The 24th meeting of the committee held on Monday instructed the metropolis to reduce the expenditure on study visits and food and snacks in the coming fiscal year.

Despite spending millions of rupees in the name of study and evaluation, the committee responsible for it has not seen any tangible results. Jhapat Bahadur Ranabhat, coordinator of the committee, informed Republica that the committee has decided to make this suggestion considering the situation of having to cut expenses due to the effects of the economic recession.

The committee has instructed the metropolis to collect revenue and rent from all public resources, means and assets in Pokhara metropolis in a centralized manner.

At present, schools, institutions and committees have been collecting the revenue and rent of public resources, means and property in the metropolis separately. The revenue of Gupteshwar Cave and Davids Fall in Pokhara Metropolitan City has been collected by Chhorepatan Secondary School and the revenue of Mahendra Cave and Bat Cave has been collected by Vindhyabasini Secondary School Batulechaur.

Similarly, the committee claims that more than 19 schools in the metropolis, including Amar Singh Secondary School, Rastriya Secondary School, Kalika Higher Secondary School, Bal Mandir Higher Secondary School, are collecting revenue and rent from public resources and property. The metropolitan Public Accounts Committee has drawn the attention of the metropolis not to collect the revenue and rents arising from those areas separately and use them arbitrarily. Instead, the committee has instructed the Metropolitan Corporation to collect funds from private sources for the necessary teachers, staff and other expenses in those schools in a centralized manner.

The committee has also instructed the metropolis to collect the incomes from tourism spots and shops built by the metropolis along with natural resources and property into the lump sum income of the city. The metropolis earns millions of rupees monthly from Pokhara industrial area, bus park, shops built in buildings located at Srijana Chowk. But the committee has instructed the metropolis to collect that amount in one lump sum.

The metropolis has been instructed to take immediate steps to collect the outstanding dues from Manipal Teaching Hospital. Manipal has to pay Rs 90 million in revenue, but it has been found that only Rs 28.5 million has been paid in this fiscal year, so the metropolis has been instructed to look for additional revenue collection.

The committee has instructed the metropolis to immediately demand the refund of the money withdrawn for the purchase of land for the landfill site. Rs 5,500,000 was disbursed in January for the purchase of land for the landfill site. However, in cases where land is not acquired, even though there is a provision stating that the amount should be refunded within 35 days, the committee has observed instances where the refund was not made within the specified timeframe. As a result, the committee has issued instructions for an immediate refund.

The committee’s member secretary Romnath Upadhyay stated that the committee has decided to give instructions to the metropolis to increase the revenue based on the previous undue collection and to observe vigilance on the increase of unwarranted amounts.

 
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