'Prepare projects thoroughly'

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Aug. 29: Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission (NPC), Prof. Dr. Shiva Raj Adhikari, has stressed the need for thorough preparation before project implementation, warning that lack of groundwork leads to challenges and delays.

Addressing the Public Policy Dialogue on Budget Implementation and Solutions organised by the Former Planners Forum in Lalitpur on Thursday, Vice Chairman Adhikari said that more struggle is entailed when projects are implemented without preparation

"Putting the project in the project list is not a big deal. Timely project implementation with preparation is a must and returns received from the project," he said.

He said that two action plans have been made: if all the criteria are not met, projects will go to study and projects that have completed all the stages will go to implementation.

He also said that projects that are not going to be implemented will go to study.

Vice Chairman Adhikari said that if the projects that have gone to study are completed in this fiscal year according to the current Appropriation Act, they can go to the implementation stage.

He said that where the private sector has not taken loans and there is liquidity in the banks, in this context, the government should use the resources available within the country and internal debt cannot be compared with external debt.

He emphasised that in the context of budget implementation, economists believe that internal and external debt are not the same and should be viewed differently.

He expressed the view that the government should work even by taking a loan in places where the private sector is not enthusiastic about investment.

He said that they are trying to work on the basis of issuing bonds for national pride projects which lagged behind for implementation and completing them within two years and providing returns.

Vice Chairman Adhikari said that now the concerned ministry will not have to come to the Commission for national priority projects, and this will happen after publishing in the gazette that they are priority projects, and added that the Commission has facilitated this.

Stating that even if a small building of a municipality has to be built, it has to go to the NPC and there is a situation where resources have to be ensured, and he said that it was resolved by redefining it and making all three governments equal and recognising the government that ensures resources.

He said that all the criteria have been met for the upgrade to a developed country in 2026 and that there should be no stopping it now.

"Even though all three criteria have been met, we should not just sit back and say that we have passed; we must become the best," he said. He noted that the NPC is also working together with the private sector for that.