HoR Members express displeasure to upcoming FY’s annual budget

Kathmandu, June 22: The House of Representatives (HoR) Members have expressed their displeasure with the annual budget of the upcoming fiscal year 2082/83 BS.

Speaking in today’s HoR meeting, most of the HoR Members have criticized the upcoming FY’s budget while taking part in the deliberations on budget allocation for the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Urban Development. They said that the government failed to strike a balance in budget allocation adding that the people have pinned high hopes on the lawmakers about the allocations for their election constituencies.

CPN (UML) lawmaker Basudev Ghimire said that the people have expected a budget for the development construction in the election constituency from the lawmakers though legislators were primarily for lawmaking. Nepali Congress (NC) lawmaker Maina Karki said the people from Jajarkot had shared their demands for development needs but the district was not on the priority list in the upcoming FY’s budget.

She urged the government to ensure budget allocation for Jajarkot district and the Karnali Province at large. Likewise, NC lawmaker Dev Prasad Timalsena criticized the trends of allocating budgets in certain constituencies. UML lawmaker Prabhu Hajara asked the government to construct Narayani Stadium, upgrade Narayani Hospital and resume services from small customs points in the Madhes Province.

Also taking part in the deliberations, CPN (Maoist Centre) lawmaker Purna Bahadur Ghartimagar said the trend of budget allocation is traditional thus it does not support the proper exercise of federalism. NC lawmaker Dr Sunil Kumar Sharma said the budget allocation should be judicious. “The budget should be immediately amended. The allocation should be judicious,” Dr Sharma added.

Similarly, NC lawmaker Purna Bahadur Tamang took exception to the hefty allocation of budget in the constituencies of some ministers.