From the Nepali Press
Chiranjibi Dhungana in Annapurna Post, 16 April
The Constituent Assembly (CA) members belonging to the four major political parties are pressuring Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat to increase the amount that they get to spend in development works of their respective constituencies.
The government provides Rs 10 million to each CA member under the Constituency Development Program but the CA members want the government to increase this amount to Rs 50 million in the upcoming fiscal year.
According to Prakash Jwala, chairman of the Finance Committee of the parliament, the committee is planning to direct the government to increase the amount as soon as the process to prepare the next budget program kicks off.
"The committee will further direct the government to issue directives regarding the use of the said amount, which includes spending in infrastructures like irrigation, drinking water and road among others," said Jwala. The committee will also ask the government to allocate up to Rs five million for a single village development committee, which will be spent under the direction of the CA member of the constituency.
However, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and members of civic society doubt the utilization of the money."How are we to believe that the fifty million will be spent in development when they haven’t been able to properly use the ten million?" said Shanta Raj Subedi, a secretary at the PMO.
According to Baikuntha Aryal of the MoF, the ministry has not yet discussed the matter. He added that proper planning is necessary for any program to succeed, "Even the carefully planned government projects have failed," he said.
Lawmakers say that they will continue lobbying for fifty million so that rural areas away from the headquarters benefit from it. They also said that to ensure the amount is properly used the government, political parties and civilians have to be aware.