Amendments in budget to appease Oli!

KATHMANDU: Right after the budget speech for the upcoming fiscal year, CPN-UML Chairperson KP Sharma Oli expressed dissatisfaction with the budget. His grievance was that there was not enough consultation with his party while preparing the budget speech.

Oli also objected to the use of the term ‘People’s War’ in the budget, as the UML has been rejecting the Maoists’ armed rebellion as a ‘People’s War.’ UML lawmakers reflected Oli’s dissatisfaction during the general discussion on the budget.

According to a high-level source at the Ministry of Finance, the government has amended the budget headings and amounts of different ministries to address the dissatisfaction of Oli and other influential UML leaders. The source said the allocations for programs not announced in the budget speech have been revised.

The Federal Parliament Secretariat has received hard copies of the budgets of only 17 ministries so far. Eight ministries are yet to get their respective budget books.

Government officials say budget books of some ministries could not be prepared as it took time to revise allocations to address the dissatisfaction of UML leaders.

After Oli warned of consequences if their dissatisfaction was not addressed, Finance Minister Barsha Man Pun and other parties in the government agreed to revise the budgets of different ministries as demanded by the UML.

A look at the budget and programs of the Ministry of Urban Development, for example, shows the ministry’s budget has been revised. The ministry has been earmarked a capital budget of Rs 63.17 billion. The largest portion of this budget has been allocated to Jhapa, the home district of UML Chairperson Oli. The home districts of the Urban Development Minister, Finance Minister, and Prime Minister are next in terms of budget allocation.

Budget has been allocated to districts like Gorkha, Rolpa, Dolpa, and Jhapa without prioritizing projects. More than Rs 3 billion has been allocated for 221 programs in Jhapa alone through the Ministry of Urban Development. Under the Urban Governance Development Program, Damak Municipality has received Rs 323.2 million, Birtamod Municipality has been allocated Rs 282.6 million, and Rs 700 million has been earmarked for Mechinagar Municipality as urban grants.

Since Jhapa is the home district of influential leaders like Speaker Devraj Ghimire, Nepali Congress General Secretary Bishwa Prakash Sharma, leader Krishna Prasad Situala, and Rastriya Prajatantra Party Chairperson Rajendra Lingden, the district receives a significant urban development budget every year.

Rolpa, Dolpa, and Gorkha have also received substantial budgets and programs from the Ministry of Urban Development for the coming fiscal year. Rolpa has been allocated about Rs 2.23 billion in capital budget for 152 projects from the Urban Development Ministry. Dolpa, the home district of Urban Development Minister Budha, has been allocated Rs 1.7 billion as a capital budget from the ministry.