Speaker Bhandari says power-centric budget distribution hinders proportional development in Far-west

Dhangadhi: Speaker of the Far West Provincial Assembly Bhim Bahadur Bhandari has said that proportional development in the province has not been possible due to a power-centric budget distribution system. Expressing serious concern over the imbalance in budget allocation, he noted that excessive concentration of budgets in some districts has left other districts lagging in development.

According to Speaker Bhandari, a large portion of the budget has been allocated to the constituencies of the Chief Minister and ministers. “At least, there should be a system in place to ensure that no district gets less than 5 percent of the development budget,” he said. “But while the budget reaches 70 percent in the Terai districts, hilly districts like Darchula, Bajhang, and Bajura are limited to 1 percent. How is proportional development possible in such a situation?”

He said that although the province has 9 districts and 32 provincial assembly constituencies, there is no balance in budget distribution. He also pointed out that this situation could increase migration from hilly areas to the Terai. “Citizens cannot live there if development does not reach the hills, so justice in budget distribution is essential,” he clarified.

Speaker Bhandari accused the provincial government of repeating past shortcomings and said that timely reforms are necessary. He stated that the issue of budget allocation without a clear plan and weak implementation is serious. “The head of an office keeps running to the ministry with a file for three months; effective governance is not possible with such a practice,” he commented.

He urged the provincial government to improve the implementation system along with budget formulation, stating that sustainable and proportional development is not possible unless a transparent, planned, and balanced budget distribution system is adopted.