Kathmandu, April 4

Chief ministers from all seven provinces expressed concern about the duplication of development projects in their meeting with Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli at Baluwatar today.

They suggested that there should be sound coordination between all three tiers of the government in designing development programmes in order to avoid duplication.

At the meeting, Karnali Province Chief Minister Mahendra Bahadur Shahi said appropriate policies should be incorporated in the new five-year plan and the next fiscal budget to avoid duplication of development projects.

Shahi said CMs told the PM that there should be clear understanding among all tiers of government on the projects to be developed by respective governments.

“We told the PM that mega projects should be handled by the federal government, medium size projects by the provincial governments and small projects and income generating programmes by the local governments,” he said.

Shahi put forth a proposal to the federal government to make 18-month fiscal year in five districts of the Karnali province which witness snowfall till this time of the year.

Karnali Province CM Shahi and Province 2 CM Lalbabu Raut told THT that they also reminded the prime minister of the federal government’s non-implementation of the 29-point agreement reached between the federal government and the provincial government in the first inter-provincial meeting held a few months ago.

Raut added that the federal government was delaying the enactment of umbrella laws, thereby affecting the performance of the provincial governments.

Meanwhile, a press release issued by the prime minister’s private secretariat mentions that the PM asked the CMs to provide assistance to Bara and Parsa districts that suffered loss of life and property due to the violent rainstorm.

According to the release the PM added that the issue of duplication of development projects should be discussed among all three tiers of the government in the National Coordination Council. The PM also pledged that the 29-point agreement would be fully implemented.

Prime Minister Oli’s Press Adviser Kundan Aryal said the PM told the CMs that both federal and provincial governments should coordinate with each other while carrying out development projects.