Ruling Party MPs Dissatisfied with Project Selection in Gandaki Province

The Gandaki Province government is preparing a budget of approximately NPR 3 billion for the upcoming fiscal year 2083/84. The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure has ensured liabilities amounting to NPR 486 million across 87 multi-year projects. However, MPs have expressed anger toward the Chief Minister and UML leaders, accusing them of arbitrary and biased project inclusion in the budget based on personal influence.

For the current fiscal year, Gandaki Province had a budget of NPR 3.197 billion, and the upcoming fiscal year is expected to have a budget of around NPR 3 billion. The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport discussed the projects on Tuesday. The ministry has already received approximately NPR 887 million, while existing multi-year contract liabilities total NPR 1.013 billion.

MPs from the ruling Nepali Congress and UML parties openly criticized Chief Minister Surendra Raj Pandey and former Chief Minister Khagaraj Adhikari. They charged both leaders, along with their advisors, with misusing the provincial budget, accusing them of capturing multi-year projects and budgets based on influence. MP Ganeshman Gurung noted, “Currently, there are six multi-year projects in the same area.” Similarly, Congress MP Jeet Prakash Ale condemned the allocation of an additional NPR 250 million to multi-year projects through special veto powers, calling it a crime against the province’s residents.

Minister of Physical Infrastructure Govinda Nepali asserted that the government would work to complete ongoing projects this time. Although the initial ceiling was NPR 887 million, he said that after reducing routine expenses and mandatory liabilities, work on new projects would be possible. Speaker Krishna Prasad Dhital of Gandaki Province remarked that the emergence of new parties is due to the failure of older parties to work effectively.