Madhesh Chief Minister Singh faces criticism from both coalition, opposition

KATHMANDU: Leaders of opposition parties as well as those of the ruling coalition partners have expressed dissatisfaction with the working style of Madhesh Province Chief Minister Satish Kumar Singh.

Five months into the current fiscal year, the province’s capital expenditure has not crossed even one percent. Chief Minister Singh, who makes loud proclamations about good governance and development, appears to be paying little attention to this issue.

Provincial assembly members are effectively “unemployed” as the assembly lacks business. Despite receiving salaries every month, the members are unable to participate in policy-making activities as the government is not providing any business. The assembly held its last meeting on August 29, and the session concluded on September 20. Since then, the government has not called for a new session.

With the assembly unable to meet, both opposition and ruling coalition parties have grown frustrated with Chief Minister Singh’s working style. The main opposition party, Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) Nepal, has demanded that the government immediately convene an assembly session. The JSP Nepal parliamentary party meeting held on Sunday made this demand.

Ram Ashish Yadav, deputy leader of the JSP Nepal parliamentary party, said that they decided to demand an immediate session as the government has left the assembly without any business. “The government has left the assembly paralyzed. It hasn’t met for four months,” Yadav told Himal Press, adding: “The Chief Minister makes grand speeches about development, but there is nothing to show.”

Yadav claimed that even after five months into the fiscal year, the government couldn’t spend even one percent on development. “Five months have passed, development spending hasn’t crossed one percent, while current expenditure is excessive. The province has been left in disarray. This can’t continue,” he said. Yadav attributed the lack of capital expenditure to the personal interests of Chief Minister Singh and some ministers.

The fiscal budget for 2024/25 mandates that development projects previously handled by consumer committees must now be conducted through open competition only. However, ministers are busy trying to continue to work through consumer committees. The dispute over whether to go for open competition or continue working with consumer committees has prevented the provincial government from spending on development.

“The budget states that development spending cannot be done through consumer committees. The assembly has given a mandate for development expenditure through open competition,” Yadav said. “The ruling party still wants to work through consumer committees. Even multi-year project tenders haven’t been called.”

Yadav accused the government of focusing solely on employee transfers and promotions rather than development. “Employees are being transferred every three months. They are frustrated,” he added.

The main ruling coalition partner, Nepali Congress (NC), is also dissatisfied with the Chief Minister and government’s working style. NC’s parliamentary party leader in the Madhesh Province Assembly, Krishna Prasad Yadav, said his party has to bear the blame for the chief minister’s mistakes. “The chief minister and government are making mistakes, but NC has to take responsibility for such things,” he said. NC’s Yadav also said that the party has repeatedly urged Chief Minister Singh to call an assembly session. “NC, CPN-UML and Loktantrik Samajbadi Party (LSP) recently discussed government functioning and drew the Chief Minister’s attention,” he said. “The government hasn’t been able to work according to public expectations.”

NC’s Yadav told Himal Press that the Chief Minister has promised to call an assembly session soon after holding a cabinet meeting.

Meanwhile, health workers in Madhesh Province are protesting against Chief Minister Singh, claiming that he is making amendments to the Act Related to Formation, Operation and Terms of Service of Local Service, 2024, through an ordinance. They have submitted memorandums to the Chief Minister and all ministries.

Under the existing laws, health assistants, who enter service at Level 5, can be promoted only up to Level 7. However, they claim that the ordinance aims to allow auxiliary health workers, who enter the service at Level 4, to be promoted up to Level 7.

Abhishek Yadav, a Public Health Inspector at Bhangaha Health Post in Mahottari, says that if the ordinance comes into effect, employees working at lower levels would reach higher levels while they would remain at lower levels.