Budget general discussions: Lawmakers doubt implementation of budget

KATHMANDU: Members of the House of Representatives have put their mixed views on the budget for the next fiscal year 2023/24 while stressing its implementation. Some of them have also cast their doubt on its implementation. They were taking part in a deliberation on the 'annual estimation of revenues and expenditures for the next FY 2023/24' in Wednesday’s meeting of the House of Representatives. On the occasion, Udaya Shumsher JB Rana doubted the implementation of the budget. "All budgets are good. But the question is their implementation. For its implementation, not only the Ministry of Finance, all federal, provincial and local levels should be responsible," he said. Asim Shah suggested that the government end administrative hassles and other difficulties caused by middlemen in delivering public service. The budget has failed to bring any concrete programme for the film industry, he accused. Lawmaker Yogendra Mandal said it was necessary to work with the right intention to have right plans and programmes in the budget. Saying the government has failed to maintain good governance and transparency, Mandal emphasized the need for making service delivery smooth in order to take the budget among the people. Similarly, lawmaker Bir Bahadur Balayer claimed that the budget for coming fiscal year has been brought in a very different way as compared to previous years. The budget has put expenditure reduction on priority considering the country's economic capability, he said, suggesting district election office should not be scrapped. Lawmaker Gokul Prasad Baskota mentioned that there was no coherence among principles and priorities, policies and programmes and allocation of the budget for the coming fiscal year. Gyanu Basnet said that the budget has been brought to address the existing economic challenges, stating that the budget has prioritised 10 different sectors. Likewise, lawmakers — Sumana Shrestha, Bina Jaiswal and Amar Bahadur Thapa also expressed their views on the budget. "What works the government needs to carry out immediately is not identified. Distributive programmes have been kept in the budget. However, no synchrony has been seen between sectors which need to be prioritised and the allocation of budget to these sectors," he added. Lawmaker Lilanath Shrestha claimed that the budget could not improve the deteriorating condition of the economy. He stressed preparing policy for reviving the economy, pointing out that the budget did not include any concrete programmes for increasing employment within the country to stop the exodus of youths to foreign employment. He expressed concern over the decrease in the budget allocated to the province and local levels. Ranendra Barali said the budget has adopted policies to increase the production of domestic goods, develop entrepreneurship and production of skilled human resources. The budget has also addressed the problems of the Dalit community, he said. Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan said the government has failed to allocate adequate budget for the national security sector. He said the budget did not include any topics to address issues related to border security, cyber security and the problem of the Rohingya refugees who have come here from Bangladesh. Rajendra Kumar KC said the opposition party lawmakers were slamming the budget just for the sake of criticising it. READ ALSO:

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