Kathmandu. Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) Chief Whip Khushbu Oli has questioned the government’s working style and priority of budget allocation. Speaking at the meeting of the House of Representatives on Tuesday while participating in the discussion on the budget of various ministries under the Appropriation Bill, 2083 BS, President Bhandari said that the budget discussion in the parliament was merely a ritualistic as the government has not been given enough time to study important documents of the budget.
Chief Whip Oli said it was impractical to ask the government to prepare a proposal to cut down expenditure after studying the brochures of development programmes of 18 ministries within two days. Referring to the Ministry of Infrastructure Development, lawmaker Oli said that the continuity of strategic projects like Madan Bhandari, Pushpalal Midhills, Postal Highway and Tunnel Way was positive, but the implementation aspect was weak. He demanded an end to the practice of allocating budget for decades but not completing even 50 per cent of the work.
She also drew the attention of the government towards the lack of a clear blueprint for road maintenance, climate-resilient infrastructure development and reduction of road accidents. Referring to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Oli objected to the allocation of only 0.18 per cent of the total budget. He argued that although the government talked big about AI, robotics and space technology, it has kept zero budget for innovation at the local level and no concrete plan to keep the scientists in the country.
She called for bringing a national AI policy and data protection policy at the earliest. She said that although the expansion of transmission line in the energy sector and export strategy to India are positive, there is no concrete plan to increase the domestic consumption. She urged the government to prepare an alternative energy security strategy keeping in mind the possible risks of change in the policy of the external market.
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