Far west provincial assembly yet to table budget amid political dispute

Dhangadhi: The Far West Provincial Assembly has not yet tabled the budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2083/84, despite the need for discussion on the budget presented by the Far West Provincial Government.

The provincial government has been unable to table the budget in the assembly even two weeks after its presentation due to widespread dissatisfaction within the ruling party regarding the budget. While the opposition has warned that the government’s budget will fail, the ruling Nepal Communist Party (UML) has put pressure on the provincial government to revise it. The party has already announced that it will withdraw from the government if the budget is not revised.

The provincial government had presented the budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2083/84 in the assembly at midnight on Asad 1. Since it was presented at midnight, the appropriation bill and the finance bill related to the budget were not tabled in the assembly. As the budget has not yet been tabled, the assembly meeting for budget discussion has not been scheduled, according to Dev Bahadur Bogati, Secretary of the Provincial Assembly Secretariat.

He said, “The assembly meeting has not been finalized yet. A meeting of the business management advisory committee was held once to conduct the assembly, but the meeting could not be finalized due to disagreement within the ruling party on the issue.” He added that the budget must be tabled in the assembly for formal discussion.

After the appropriation bill related to income and expenditure and the finance bill related to revenue collection are tabled, a 72-hour amendment period is provided, after which budget discussions begin. Akkal Bahadur Rawal, a provincial assembly member of the main opposition Nepali Communist Party (NCP), said the government is avoiding tabling the budget in the assembly due to fear that it may be rejected.

He said, “The budget should be tabled in the assembly for discussion, but the government has not done so due to fear of its failure.” The provincial government had presented a budget of Rs 377 million for the upcoming fiscal year.