PM pledges to address issues of Madhes

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Apr. 2: Prime Minister Balendra Shah continued his meetings with newly elected lawmakers on Wednesday. He held the latest meeting at Singha Durbar with the lawmakers elected from Madhes Province.

Lawmaker and former Youth and Sports Minister Bablu Gupta, talking to The Rising Nepal, informed the MPs elected under the First-Past-The-Post electoral system from Madhes raised a wide range of pressing development and governance concerns with Prime Minister Balendra Shah during the meeting at Singha Durbar on Wednesday.

Gupta, who was elected from Siraha-1, said the discussion focused on identifying urgent priorities that could be addressed before the upcoming budget. “The Prime Minister asked us to put forward suggestions on immediate and short-term work that can be carried out before the budget,” he said.

According to Gupta, lawmakers from across Madhes highlighted recurring structural challenges affecting both their constituencies and the province as a whole. “We raised issues such as ensuring good governance, controlling corruption, and accelerating infrastructure development, particularly roads and bridges,” he said.

Similarly, lawmaker Md. Firdosh Alam, who was also in the meeting, added that concerns related to environmental protection and border management were also prominently discussed. “There were strong concerns about protecting the Chure region, managing border areas effectively, and reopening smaller customs points that were closed during the COVID-19 period,” said Alam.

He further said that the MPs drew attention to longstanding social and administrative issues. “The problems faced by loan-shark victims, land disputes, and the hardships citizens face in government offices such as the CDO and Land Revenue offices were all raised,” he said. “In my particular constituency of Rautahat – 2, there is a problem of drug addiction, water scarcity, groundwater depletion, and mobile network, which I informed the Prime Minister” added Alam.

Both Gupta and Alam said that the Prime Minister responded to the lawmakers’ concerns  with a positive response and pledged to address the issues. 

“He said that the issues have been noted and that efforts will be made to address them according to the responsibility of the respective ministries, prioritising those that can be resolved quickly,” said Gupta.

Gupta also noted that the Prime Minister told the MPs to contact him or his secretariat whenever necessary. “The Prime Minister was very open to the ideas and issues presented by the MPs and encouraged them to contact him whenever needed. He expressed strong support for our concerns and pledged to work to resolve them in time,” said Gupta.

“There was discussion about creating a system through which the MPs can directly inform the Prime Minister’s Office about problems in their constituencies, making coordination more effective,” he added.

The meeting was part of a series of province-wise consultations being held by the Prime Minister to gather input from directly elected representatives ahead of the budget.