Birendranagar Municipality Unveils Budget of Over Rs 4.71 Billion for FY 2083/84

Birendranagar Municipality in Surkhet has announced a budget of more than Rs 4.71 billion for the upcoming fiscal year 2083/84.

Deputy Mayor Nilkantha Khanal presented the Rs 4.71 billion budget during the municipality’s 19th Municipal Assembly on Wednesday.

Of the total budget, Rs 3.02 billion, or 64 percent, has been allocated for development and capital expenditure, while Rs 1.68 billion has been earmarked for recurrent expenses. The new budget is Rs 327.5 million higher than the current fiscal year’s budget of Rs 4.38 billion.

According to the municipality, the budget will be financed through multiple sources. These include Rs 246 million from the federal fiscal equalization grant, Rs 2.67 billion from federal conditional grants, and Rs 213.6 million from federal revenue sharing.

The municipality will also receive Rs 35.3 million through provincial fiscal equalization grants, Rs 503.5 million from provincial conditional grants, and Rs 4.4 million from provincial revenue sharing.

In addition, Rs 45.9 million will come from federal and provincial matching and special grants, Rs 180 million from local revenue sharing, and Rs 330.6 million from the municipality’s internal revenue sources.

The municipality plans to utilize Rs 39.3 million from savings carried over from the current fiscal year, while Rs 340 million will be allocated through social security grants.

Among the major allocations under the upcoming budget are Rs 340 million for social security programs, Rs 180 million for the operation, management and partnership of the Bheri Pumping Project under drinking water governance and infrastructure promotion programs, Rs 166.7 million for ward-level plans and programs, and Rs 145 million for municipal-level projects and programs managed by various departments.

Prior to the budget presentation, Mayor Mohanmaya Dhakal unveiled the municipality’s policy and program priorities for the next fiscal year.

Key priorities include efforts to upgrade Birendranagar to a sub-metropolitan city, the establishment of a “Knowledge Bank” for skills and capacity development, an Education Reform Year initiative, AI-based education programs, a Digital Teacher Bank, and a Rs 20 million scholarship fund.

The municipality has also prioritized additional subsidies for agricultural entrepreneurs, policies discouraging farmland from remaining uncultivated, support for startups and business incubation programs, tax incentives, development of special tourism zones and digital applications, free services for pregnant women, a mental health initiative called “Manko Chautari,” a street-child-free municipality campaign, an integrated municipal bus service, construction of skywalk bridges, and increased deposits under the daughter savings account program.