Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Members of the House of Representatives have warned the government against arbitrarily changing tax rates without parliamentary approval.
Taking part in discussions on the annual estimates of revenue and expenditure for the upcoming fiscal year, Nepali Congress lawmaker Nishcal Rai said emerging facts suggest tax rates had been tampered with. “How can the executive alter a bill that had already been presented to Parliament?” he questioned
Rai urged the government to respect the principle that tax rates cannot be changed at its own discretion. He also drew the government’s attention to the lack of budget allocations for Ilam, which suffered damage from recent floods.
He, however, praised positive aspects of the budget. “I praise the finance minister for announcing a plan to transform the state-owned Nepal Airlines Corporation, which owes more than Rs 50 billion to different debtors, into a company model,” he added.
Similarly, Yuvaraj Dulal of the Nepali Communist Party (NCP) said the budget had failed to reflect the aspirations of the Gen Z movement. “Concerns of people affected by the Melamchi drinking water project should have been incorporated into the budget,” he added.
Lawmakers like Surendra Chaudhary, Chandra Mohan Yadav, Anand Bahadur Chand, Khadga Shahi, Samikshya Baskota, Mohanlal Acharya, Som Sharma, Ashish Gajurel, Janak Singh Dhami, Bharat Prasad Parajuli, Aakriti Awasthi, Govinda Panthi and Kamal Subedi, among others, urged the government to ensure the proper utilization of water resources, land, forests and human capital.
They also called for increased budget allocations for the Chure region and emphasised the need to develop religious and tourist destinations to promote religious tourism.
