Kavrepalanchowk, April 30

A study conducted by the Federation for Good Governance Nepal on 27 development projects under the Constituency Development Programme in nine constituencies of three districts — Kaski, Sindhupalchok and Sunsari —  has shown that implementation of the much debated CDP was facing various difficulties.

The government, in the last fiscal budget, had allocated Rs 15 million to each constituency for local development projects. Apart from the money, each member of parliament was separately provided Rs 2 million to spend on infrastructure development projects in the concerned constituency.

Project selection process was found problematic as 14-step planning process prescribed by the government was ignored, stated the draft report discussed at a seminar organised by the federation here today.

Civic participation has not been improved, and MPs and CDP committees were not found consulting locals and beneficiaries regarding local problems, according to the preliminary report. Government-prescribed steps were not properly followed while procuring materials, it said.

Some allocations were influenced by nepotism and favouritism and others by vote bank of the MPs, stated the report. CDP funding was made for infrastructure development, however, to what extent such investment brought about change was still not clear, according to the report. The report stated that the study did not find fair political culture as there was mistrust between and among political parties. It suggested defining the role of MPs, DDCs, user committees and contractors.

Parliament members, including Mohan Bahadur Basnet of Nepali Congress and Sita Giri Oli of CPN-UML, underscored the need for increasing the amount allocated under the programme. Secretary at the Ministry of Information and Communications Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya and some other participants highlighted problems in the implementation of the programme and suggested reconsidering to continue the programme.