Red tape likely to hit budget talks
NPC yet to deliver copies of Annual Development Programme to parliament
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KATHMANDU, JUL 23 - The government’s dilly-dallying in delivering copies of the Annual Development Programme to the parliament is likely to affect the clause-wise discussion of the budget scheduled to begin next week.
The document should be provided to lawmakers two days before the beginning of the discussion on the appropriation bill scheduled for Tuesday.
Also, the book on the sector- and district-wise allocation of the budget is also yet to be published by the National Planning Commission (NPC). A senior NPC official said the annual development programme that includes central level programmes has already been sent for printing. “We are also in the process of sending the second part of the document that includes district-wise programmes for printing,” said the official, adding that they were hopeful that NPC would be able to deliver the printed copies of both the documents to lawmakers by Sunday.
The printing delayed due to political pressure for allocation of the budget to particular projects, according to the official.
The Parliament is scheduled to discuss the theoretical aspects of the budget in its Sunday session. Speaker Subas Nembang will introduce a calendar on the clause-wise discussion only if the government provides the books to be distributed to lawmakers before Sunday’s session.
Speaker Nembang met Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal on Thursday and drew his attention on the matter. In the discussion, the prime minister was reported to have instructed Finance Ministry officials to complete the task as soon as possible. “I have drawn the attention of the prime minister on the impact of the delay in the distribution of the books,” Nembang told reporters on Friday.
The plan to pass the Appropriation Bill within Aug 17 could hit snag due to delay in the clause-wise discussion of the budget. NPC prepares the two documents on the basis of the red book published by the Finance Ministry that includes sectoral allocation of the budget. Bodh Raj Niraula, joint secretary at the ministry, said the ministry has already provided the red book to NPC and it has nothing to with the annual development programme.
Although the government in its policies and programmes announced to authorise certain district development committees to carry out development projects, it could not translate into action. “There is a tendency of the government not to give full authority to local government agencies for development projects,” said the NPC official.
Given complaints about the government allocating more budgets to constituencies of influential leaders, NPC has been maintaining that it will try to ensure distribution of development budget for districts.
Posted on: 2011-07-23 10:05
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