Dhangadi, June 18

The budget for Sudurpashchim for the upcoming fiscal has drawn mixed reaction from provincial lawmakers and other stakeholders.

The government had made public the 28.162 billion rupees worth of policies and programmes for the upcoming fiscal three days ago.

Commenting on the budget, Nepali Congress Provincial Assembly party leader Rana Bahadur Rawal described the government’s budgetary dispensation for the next fiscal as disappointing. He said the limited resources had been scattered over a range of programmes to make everyone happy.

“For one, I’m not impressed by the government decision to jack up the existing 20 million rupees for infrastructure development programme by 50 per cent,” he added.

Another NC PA member Tek Bahadur Raika also echoed Rawal in his concern about the hiked budgetary dispensation for IDP. “The budget may have made PA members and others who have better access happy, but the grassroots have been left in the lurch,” said Raika.

Even the business fraternity is not impressed with the government’s policies and plans for the upcoming fiscal, as the provincial Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairperson Shankar Bogati called the policies and programmes unfriendly towards the business sector. “It’s sad that the budget makes no mention of plan to set up an industrial estate or something of that sort, which is discouraging. No province or country can develop unless we develop the industrial sector,” he said.

Ruling party leaders, however, praised the budget, calling it better than this year’s budget. “The budget has covered all major sectors. It has mostly focused on agriculture and tourism, which is a good thing,” said NCP chief whip Tara Lama.