Karnali assembly approves budget

By Our Correspondent,Surkhet, July 12: The budget presented by the Karnali Province government for the next fiscal year has been passed by a majority.

The budget for the next fiscal year 2023/24 was passed by a majority in the provincial assembly meeting held on Tuesday.

In the meeting, the proposal made by Minister of Economic Affairs and Planning Bedraj Singh to pass the overall budget, including Appropriation Bill 2080 and Finance Bill 2080, was passed by the majority.

Minister Singh had presented a budget of Rs. 33.37 billion for the next financial year on June 16, 2023.

Similarly, the proposal of UML Provincial Assembly member Binod Kumar Shah to cut the expenses in the provincial assembly has been rejected by the majority.

Provincial Assembly member Shah had expressed political disagreement and submitted a proposal to reduce expenditure on the budget heading of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Planning under the Karnali Province Appropriation Bill 2023/24.

The proposal forwarded by him during the budget discussion sought to reduce the budget heading of the ministry and keep it at Rs. 1.

Pointing out that the principles, objectives, major policies, and allocated budget of the appropriation bill were not consistent with the policy agreement, a proposal was submitted that the amount of expenditure under the heading be reduced to Rs. 1.

Various reasons were pointed out, such as lack of orientation and preparation needed to lead economic reforms in the budget, areas with immense economic potential were not prioritized and there was no reliable basis for a competitive economy on the basis of economic governance and clean regulation.

Similarly, Chief Minister Raj Kumar Sharma has submitted the fifth annual report of the Auditor General 2079 in the Provincial Assembly meeting.

The report submitted by Chief Minister Sharma has been sent to the Public Accounts Committee for discussion.