KATHMANDU, JUNE 18
Members of the federal parliament have voiced strong protests over the budget presented by the government for the upcoming fiscal year 2081/82 BS.
At today's House of Representatives (HoR) meeting, lawmakers expressed dissatisfaction by tearing apart the annual development program, returning its copies to the government through the Speaker, and observing moments of silence in protest.
The meeting discussed the budget allocations for the Ministry of Home, Foreign Affairs, Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, National Planning Commission, Office of the Vice President, and Office of the President under the Appropriation Bill, 2081 BS.
Lawmakers, including those from the ruling party, expressed serious reservations about various aspects of the Appropriation Bill.
Criticisms included excessive budgetary allocation to the electoral constituencies of certain ministers at the expense of more needy areas, unfair and indiscriminate budget distribution without proper resource assessment, and the inclusion of minor projects in the federal budget against established project classification criteria.
Lawmakers also highlighted issues of projects being set up based on political power and accessibility rather than need.
Rastriya Prajatantra Party President Rajendra Lingden criticized the budget, tearing apart the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport's annual development program booklet.
Main opposition party Nepali Congress (NC) lawmaker Dilendra Prasad Badu observed a minute of silence in protest, and lawmaker Tejulal Chaudhary returned the budget Red Book to the government, citing budgetary neglect of his constituency.
Gyan Bahadur Shahi also returned the development program booklet, protesting the neglect of the Karnali region.
Lingden accused government ministers of arbitrarily preparing the budget and violating budgetary discipline. He questioned the methodology of preparing a budget that neglects some districts while excessively favoring others.
Badu complained about the lack of budget allocation for a road in Darchula, being constructed by the Nepal Army, and demanded budget for road access in remote areas of Darchula. Ruling party lawmaker Shishir Khanal stated that the budget was against the policy of equitable resource distribution and criticized it as a new form of neo-feudalism.
Lawmaker Gokul Prasad Baskota questioned whether the budget was aligned with the targets of the 15th or 16th five-year plans, criticizing its basis on accessibility and power.
Sudan Kirati criticized the budget as unbalanced and against the spirit of federalism, questioning whether it aimed to tarnish the Prime Minister's advocacy for federalism.
Other lawmakers expressing reservations included Leelanath Shrestha, Surya Bahadur Thapa Chhetri, Bimala Subedi, Deepak Giri, Madhab Sapkota, Dr. Chandra Bhandari, Sunita Baral, Tshiring Lyamu Lama (Tamang), Ramhari Khatiwada, Tara Lama, Mahantha Thakur, Prabhu Saha, Mahindra Roy Yadav, Rekha Yadav, and Lalbir Chaudhary.
