The provincial budget has increased by 25.55 percent compared to the last fiscal year.

Province 3 has received the highest budget of NPR 47.50 billion, while Far West Province has received the lowest NPR 28.16 billion.

All the provinces have come up with various interesting projects including cable car, monorail and tunnel roads.

Let’s take a look at the Nepal Province-wise Budget Allocation 2019-20 (2076-77):

1) Province 1

Province 1 Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning Indra Angbo tabled a budget of NPR 42.20 billion.

From the given amount, NPR 18.54 billion will be utilized as recurrent expenditure and NPR 23.57 billion has been allocated for capital expenditure.

Budget Allocation for Various Sectors:

• Education – NPR 1.28 billion
• Drinking Water and Sanitation – NPR 3 billion
• Irrigation – NPR 3.2 billion

2) Province 2

Province 2 government presented a budget of NPR 38.72 billion. NPR 19.11 billion will be set aside for recurrent expenditure, while NPR 19.26 billion is being used for capital expenditure.

The government has announced an allocation of NPR 30 million for each constituency in accordance with the Constituency Infrastructure Development Special Program. It has given primary focus to agriculture, education, and health.

3) Province 3

Province 3 Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning Kailash Prasad Dhungel unveiled a budget of NPR 47.6 billion for FY 2019-20.

It has dedicated NPR 24.46 billion as recurrent expenditure and NPR 22.03 billion as capital expenditure.

The budget will focus on developing infrastructure including ring roads and tunnels across several parts of the Province, tourism development, agro-sector modernization, and community farming among others says Minister Dhungel.

The budget also mentions replacing petrol run vehicles with electric vehicles by 2076 BS.

4) Gandaki Province

Gandaki Province Minister for Economic Affairs Kiran Gurung tabled a budget of NPR 32 billion for FY 2019-20. The Gandaki Government has allocated NPR 12.28 billion for recurrent expenditure and NPR 19.85 billion for capital expenditure.

It has given emphasis to programs and policies announced from the last fiscal. Additionally, it has allocated ample funds for the construction of ‘national pride projects’ within the province.

It has announced the development of Pushpalal Ring Road which will connect the Province’s 13 districts.

5) Province 5

Province 5 Chief Minister and Economic Affairs and Planning Minister Shankhar Pokharel announced a budget allocation of NPR 36.41 billion.

NPR 13.45 billion has been allocated for recurrent expenses and NPR 18.57 billion for capital expenditure.

It has given top priority to:

• Infrastructure and tourism development
• Agriculture sector commercialization and mobilizing the sector to eliminate unemployment
• Completion of Gautam Buddha International Airport

6) Karnali Province

Karnali Province Minister for Economic Affairs Prakash Jwala unveiled a budget of NPR 34.35 billion. The Karnali Province Government has allocated a sum of NPR 13.05 billion for recurrent expenses and NPR 21.29 billion for capital expenditure.

The Karnali Province Government has prioritized:

• Agriculture, infrastructure and tourism sectors
• Setting up the Karnali Infrastructure Development Authority as part of the budget allocation of NPR 1.2 billion for the infrastructure sector

7) Sudurpaschim Province

Sudurpaschim Province Minister for Economic Affairs tabled a budget of NPR 28.16 billion, including a contribution of NPR 12.57 billion as recurrent expenditure and NPR 13.06 billion as capital expenditure.

The government has prioritized:

• Agriculture, drinking water, energy, irrigation, infrastructure, and roads.
• Promotion of a model agriculture village with a budget allocation of NPR 5 million for every local unit

Hope the new budget allocation will help fulfill all the provincial governments’ development plans.

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Lack of the required legislations are causing difficulties in executing day-to-day duties.

In its first Inter-Province Council (IPC) meeting at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM) at Kathmandu on December 09, 2018, Province CMs met to express their concerns over absence of adequate autonomy and required civil servants in their respective provinces.

Province 1 CM Sher Dhan Rai, Province 2 Lal Babu Raut, Province 3 Dor Mani Paudel and Province 4 Prithvi Subba Gurung were present at the PMO.

On the other hand, Province 5 CM Shankar Pokharel, Karnali Province and Sudur Paschim Trilochan Bhatta are scheduled to meet the PM regarding the same on December 10, 2018.

Besides the aforementioned officials, the important meeting is seeing the participation of all ministries secretaries and other senior government officials.

Province 2 CM Raut shared with the press that they have informed PM Oli about the various problems due to lack of the federal government’s cooperation.

“We put emphasis on formulating necessary laws, adjustment of civil servants and coordination between the federal and provincial governments,” he said.

Provincial Public Service Commission
The delay in the introduction of the Federal Civil Service Act and the Federal Police Act has led to the formation of the Provincial Public Service Commission created by provincial governments to hire civil servants and deploy provincial police organization.

Raut informed that PM Oli said these problems have surfaced since federalism is a new exercise in Nepal.

“The PM has asked us to work together with the federal government to resolve the problems seen in the implementation of federalism,” he said.

Problems Discussed by CMs
Province 1: According to sources, Province 1 CM Rai complained that the lack of a Provincial Public Service Commission and coordination between federal governments disabled provincial governments in executing day-to-day business, effectively.

Province 4: Likewise, Province 4 CM Gurung asked the federal government to grant provincial governments the authority to collect taxes. Additionally, he also demanded for a secretariat to ensure coordination between the two government levels and provide civil servants to the provinces.

Province 2 was among other provinces, which were agitated over extreme delay on formulation of the Federal Police Act and went a step ahead by recruiting civil servants on a contract basis.

Overall, the meeting discussed issues such as policy-making, formulation of laws, natural resources distribution and human resource management among others.

Speaking at the meeting PM Oli said, since federalism was a new concept in Nepal, provincial CMs should learn from their experience so far and join the process of strengthening Nepal’s federalism.

He also assured the CMs that the necessary federal laws will come into play by mid-March through the winter-season of the federal parliament.

“The office of the chief ministers, offices of the provincial ministers and their residences were not even in our imagination until some time ago. We may have experienced some difficulties while addressing several of such issues,” Oli said.

“No one becomes a champion immediately after joining a game. He becomes a champion as he continues playing. Federalism is a similar game for us. But we will come out as champions,” he added.

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The Nepal Government said it will launch a special plan to promote tourist activities there.

According to Nepal’s Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Ministry, the places were selected on the basis of recommendations from local and provincial governments as well as Nepal Tourism Board.

They selected 600 locations while the Ministry selected 100 with focus on their ‘potential’.

Following this move, the Ministry will call upon government bodies, private agencies and locals to develop and promote these destinations.

The Government has assured that it will provide sufficient funding to develop these places.

100 New Tourism Destinations in Nepal

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The post Government to Promote 100 Nepali Tourist Destinations appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

The Cabinet approved this proposal of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MoICS) on October 15, 2018, informed Matrika Prasad Yadav, Minister, MoICS.

IEDI has been limited to the central level since its inception in 1996 under the Industrial Enterprise Development Institute Act 1996.

Now, IEDI board’s new decision will promote it at the provincial levels promoting business environment in the country through entrepreneurship development.

The initiative aims to develop human & knowledge resource needed for business and entrepreneurship promotion in the country.

With focus on Research & Development, testing and implementation of world’s best practices in business development, IEDI has been actively supporting impact-generating activities such training & consultancy, enterprise and management development programs.

“Formation of such institutes in all provinces will help entrepreneurship to grow in Nepal and promote business,” says Industry Secretary Yam Kumari Khatiwada.

According to Khatiwada, IEDI currently has local offices in Provinces 1, 3, 4 and 5, which will now be operated by the provincial governments, and similar ones will also be established in Provinces 2, 6 and 7 upon cabinet approval.

In another update, the Cabinet has decided to limit the authority of Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Authority to the Center.

Let’s hope more such enhancements to the existing policies and implementation of new measures will boost the industrial development in Nepal, thus also generating ample employment opportunities in the country.

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