Minister Pandey stresses budget exec ution

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Aug. 25: Minister for Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation Badri Pandey has directed the ministry and its subordinate bodies to focus fully on implementing the budget of the current Fiscal Year 2025/26, even if it means recruiting additional technical manpower.

Addressing the Ministry-Level Development Action Committee and the progress review meeting for the Fiscal Year 2024/25 on Sunday, Minister Pandey emphasised that the projects must be implemented in a way that they would be completed on time with the desired quality standards. 

“We must prioritise budget implementation, even if it requires adding more technical personnel. When there is an imbalance between physical and financial progress, it becomes difficult to obtain a true picture of the project status. Therefore, projects that cannot be implemented should be dropped from the outset,” he said. 

Minister Pandey stated that strong coordination among all three tiers of government is essential to bring the meticulously prepared plans of the ministry into practice. He instructed subordinate departments not to delay service seekers’ files and to work actively. He also made it clear that employees who do not work effectively should consider being moved elsewhere.

He said the merger of the Nepal Academy of Tourism and Hotel Management (NATHM) and the Nepal Mountain Academy couldn’t be implemented since their nature of work is different.

The meeting presented reports on the budget and expenditure status of the ministry and related agencies, the 16th Plan and annual performance indicators, national pride projects, progress of other plans, grievances and arrears, the implementation status of policies, programmes and the budget speech, key achievements, and existing challenges.