Itahari Mayor Hem Karna Paudel
ITAHARI: Itahari Sub-Metropolitan City’s budget for the fiscal year 2025/26 could not be approved on Wednesday.
The 16th municipal assembly meeting was postponed until further notice, leaving the sub-metropolis without an approved budget for the new fiscal year, which began on Thursday.
Mayor Hemkarna Paudel blamed the failure to pass the budget on the leaders of the CPN-UML’s Itahari Municipal Committee. Writing a post on his social media page, Paudel said the municipal assembly had to be postponed due to the majority power wielded by UML leaders, as we could not meet their budget demands. “As a result, the people of Itahari have been deprived of a budget,” he wrote.
Paudel insisted in the municipal assembly meeting that the budget was prepared in a balanced way, taking into account the actual needs of the sub-metropolis. However, agreement could not be reached, as ward chairs elected from the UML demanded higher allocations for their respective wards.
Deputy Mayor Sangita Kumari Chaudhary on June 24 proposed an expenditure outlay of Rs 2.55 billion for 2025/26. Of this, Rs 1.04 billion was allocated for recurrent expenditure and Rs 1.30 billion for capital expenditure, while Rs 90 million was set aside for financial management.
In 2024/25, the sub-metropolis had brought a budget of Rs 3.57 billion, which had drawn criticism for being excessively large.
Despite bringing a modest budget, this time the municipal assembly failed to pass it. This means Itahari will move into the new fiscal year without an approved budget.
