Kathmandu Metropolitan City Achieves 95.5% Literacy Rate, Faces Budget Underutilization

Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has achieved a literacy rate of 95.5%, with a population of 862,400. However, the city has struggled to fully utilize its allocated budget for infrastructure development.

According to Sumitra Lamichhane, Chief of KMC's Plan Monitoring and Evaluation Unit, the infrastructure development and physical progress of projects and programs implemented in the Fiscal Year 2080/81 (2023-24) reached only 53% completion. Of the total Rs 24.2 billion allocated for these initiatives, KMC spent just Rs 12.3 billion.

Additionally, Rs 1.57 billion was spent on projects and programs carried out by local, provincial, and federal offices within Kathmandu during the same fiscal year.