Nepal Publicizes ‘NPR 8.39 Billion’ Spending on ‘COVID-19 Response’

The sudden surge in the coronavirus infection cases since the last two weeks has led to the public allegations that the Nepali Government has failed to handle the pandemic.

For the past few days, the Nepali youth have been protesting across the country, demanding the government to publicize the funds spent on tackling the coronavirus pandemic.

The main opposition party, Nepali Congress, has also demanded that the government should furnish a detailed breakdown of the NPR 10 billion it spent to address the pandemic.

“The government buys just five PCR test machines and 25,000 kits and says NPR 10 billion has been spent. How was the money spent? We need answers,” demanded Congress Lawmaker Gagan Thapa.

Amid the mounting pressure, the Nepali Government, on June 13, publicized the details of NPR 8.391 billion spent in response to the pandemic.

The COVID-19 Crisis Management Center Directorate Committee has released the details of various expenses including money spent on procuring medical supplies, mobilization of human resources, development of quarantine facilities, other health infrastructures, and miscellaneous expenses.

Breakdown of Nepal COVID-19 Response Fund:

• Procurement of medical supplies – NPR 3.90 billion
• Development of physical infrastructures – NPR 1.12 billion
• Mobilizing human resources – NPR 58.33 million
• Development of quarantine facilities – NPR 135.59 million
• Miscellaneous purposes – NPR 401.59 million

Expenses Made by Nepal Federal Ministries:

• Ministry of Health and Population – NPR 1.58 billion
• Ministry of Defense – NPR 2.40 billion
• Ministry of Home Affairs – NPR 24.58 million
• Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation – NPR 52 million
• Ministry of Urban Development – NPR 26.97 million
• Ministry of Education, Science and Technology – NPR 14.2 million

Expenses Made by Nepal Province Governments

• Province 1 – NPR 193.56 million
• Province 2 – NPR 133.94 million
• Bagmati Province – NPR 136.7 million
• Gandaki Province – NPR 154.21 million
• Province 5 – NPR 77.93 million
• Karnali Province – NPR 239.28 million
• Sudurpaschim Province – NPR 364.87 million

However, the breakdown does not include the details of the expenses made by various local bodies across the nation.

The Nepali Government has informed that they are working to gather information from local agencies about the expenses made by them.