Kathmandu, May 3
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s private secretariat has clarified that the letter that Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers wrote to the National Planning Commission, directing to include 68 projects in the next year’s budget plan, was issued without consulting the Prime Minister.
Oli’s press advisor Kundan Aryal issued a statement on Friday and clarified that Oli was shocked to read the media reports.
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PM puts pressure on NPC to allocate budget to 68 projects in his constituency
Kathmandu, May 3
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has directed the National Planning Commission to prioritise his constituency, Jhapa 5, in the next year’s budget plan.
Oli wrote a five page letter to the Commission that is busy preparing the annual plan recently and demanded allocations to 68 infrastructure development projects. The Prime Minister has attached the list to the letter.
The letter has been written on behalf of the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers itself and the OPMCM Joint Secretary Binod Bahadur Kunwar has signed the letter.
Most of the projects (22 of 68) proposed by Oli are related to the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport. Likewise, there are 11 projects related to the Ministry of Federal Affairs, seven to the Ministry of Youth and Sports, six to the Ministry of Urban Development and five to the Ministry of Water Supply.
Oli has proposed five projects about alternative energy, three about water-induced and other disasters, five about middle scale irrigation, four about tube well, five about bridges, 15 about tourism and two about energy.
Meanwhile, political analyst Krishna Khanal has termed the Prime Minister’s directive an abuse of his position.
“He is no more a prime minister, but just a lawmaker of Jhapa as he talked about development and prosperity of the district,” he says, “This is an abuse of his position.”
