Humla’s Seven Rural Municipalities Accumulate Over Rs 1.27 Billion in Arrears, Sarkegad Records Highest Amount

Dragon Media Correspondent

The total arrears of all seven rural municipalities in Humla district have exceeded Rs 1.27 billion, reflecting growing concerns over financial discipline at the local level. The amount has continued to rise as new arrears are added each year, recoverable sums remain uncollected, and local governments fail to give sufficient attention to clearing and verifying earlier irregularities.

According to the District Treasury Controller Office in Humla, the combined arrears accumulated by the seven rural municipalities since their establishment have reached Rs 1,279,239,085.

The latest report of the Office of the Auditor General shows that Rs 121,473,706 in new arrears were added in fiscal year 2081/82 alone.

Among the local governments, Sarkegad Rural Municipality has recorded the highest total arrears at Rs 364,032,340. It is followed by Chankheli Rural Municipality with Rs 280,843,340, Tanjakot with Rs 209,082,743 and Adanchuli with Rs 204,895,055.

Simkot Rural Municipality has accumulated arrears worth Rs 81,616,647, while Kharpunath has Rs 77,678,256. Namkha Rural Municipality has the lowest amount among the seven, at Rs 61,087,689.

In terms of new arrears added during fiscal year 2081/82, Chankheli recorded the highest amount at Rs 43,904,318. Adanchuli added Rs 33,515,698, Sarkegad Rs 17,175,613, Simkot Rs 7,641,910, Namkha Rs 6,855,771, Tanjakot Rs 6,590,335 and Kharpunath Rs 5,790,061.

Of the total arrears of the seven rural municipalities, Rs 17,302,050 has been categorized as money that must be directly recovered. However, the local governments have not shown sufficient initiative to collect the amount, according to District Treasury Controller Office Chief Ang Bahadur Karki.

Progress in settling and verifying past arrears has also remained weak. So far, only Rs 31,107,831 has been cleared through the verification process, the office said. Chankheli Rural Municipality has reportedly not completed any such verification to date.

According to Karki, local governments tend to focus heavily on spending while sometimes making payments without attaching the required supporting documents or completing proper procedures. This has contributed to the continued growth of arrears.

He said the problem has worsened because elected representatives and local leadership have not given adequate priority to settling and verifying outstanding financial irregularities.

The existence of arrears does not automatically mean that all the money involved has been lost to corruption or embezzlement. Arrears may include expenditures made without completing required legal procedures, transactions lacking adequate documentation, amounts requiring regularization, unsettled advances and funds that need to be recovered.

However, the continued accumulation of arrears over several years, combined with weak recovery and verification, points to serious shortcomings in financial accountability and the management of public expenditure at the local level.