Kathmandu, March 28

Lawmakers in the parliamentary Constitution Implementation and Monitoring Committee today criticised Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Population and Health Upendra Yadav  for not working as per the spirit of federalism.

Lawmakers from the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) and main opposition Nepali Congress shouted that though DPM Yadav was an advocate of federalism previously, he was now centralising power in the health ministry.

“This is a moral question for you. You had advocated federalism. But now your ministry has rolled the spirit of federalism,” NC lawmaker Minendra Rijal said.

Former minister and NCP lawmaker Prabhu Sah accused DPM Yadav of acting like a king. “You have talked loudly while you were on the road, but now you are acting like a king. What is this?” he asked.

Another NCP lawmaker Pampha Bhusal also accused Yadav of not following the spirit of the constitution and federalism in his ministry. “The ministry is only looking for short popular work. But it didn’t come with those works that would affect the policy level,” he said.

Bhim Rawal, NCP lawmaker, said there was no medicine in health posts but that money allocated to buy medicines had been not spend by the ministry.

Replying to lawmakers, DPM Yadav said the accusations from lawmakers were not right. He explained that his ministry was the first ministry to adopt federalism in the country. “If you look at the health posts, the ministry has already adjusted those institutions with employees within the provinces and local levels,” he said.