Kathmandu,
June 8
On Sunday both the Houses of Federal Parliament continued Inter-ministerial post-budget discussion with more than 60 lawmakers of various parliamentary parties who voiced their concerns on the annual budget allocation to various seven ministries.
Former Minister Bhim Rawal said, “The budget was realistic somehow and required focus on public delivery. Rs 1.5 million allocations for ‘Inter-country Transmission Lines’ was not appropriate in his view. Duty discount on chocolate but increased tax rates on fertilizer is not the spirit of socialism, it needs correction. The budget discourages electric vehicle purchase but encourages vehicles that run with petroleum, which is against our own election manifesto.”
In the contrary, leaders, and lawmakers from opposition parties disapproved of the budget. NC leader Balkrishna Khand mentioned his concern by saying, “the allocation on flood, inundation, and landslide was not enough. The government should be responsible to save life from natural disasters in the hills and plain areas. Also, The government did not allocate even a single penny for the development of Kalapani, Lipulek and Limpiyadhura in the budget. Publishing a map is not enough. He further said that converting the government school to an isolation ward and operating the private school would be an irresponsible act and is not accepted by the parties.
Khand strongly disagreed on the rise in tax on electric vehicles. He also said,” the government is a ‘chocolaty government’ and a socialism-oriented government has ironically increased taxes on priority products but provided incentives on non-priority products.”
Moreover, NC leader Minendra Rijal said, “The budget cannot strengthen or lead the economy on the right track because the situation is still unpredictable due to the pandemic. The traditional budget could not implement federalism properly.”