Kathmandu, April 4
Chief ministers of all seven provinces of Nepal held a meeting with Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Thursday and demanded that provincial governments be allowed to handle at least 33 per cent share of the total state budget.
They argued that the provincial government could not work effectively due to lack of resources and budget, hence appealed to the federal government to allocate more budget so that the new federal system could be more effective.
“The budget distribution could not be just in the past,” Province 2 CM Lalbabu Raut told media after the meeting, “Then only development can be seen.”
The chief ministers floated the suggestion as the federal government is currently preparing for the annual budget statement for the next fiscal year.
Meanwhile, they also expressed concerns of the federal government’s ignorance in implementing decisions of the Interprovince Council meeting held a few months ago.
“We have made a 29 point agreement during the meeting. It’s implementation has been seen too weak,” Province 1 CM Sher Dhan Rai said, “We drew attention of the Prime Minister that he should take initiatives to implement it.”
On the other hand, the Prime Minister and the chief ministers agreed to hold the next meeting of the Council comprising federal PM, ministers and chief ministers, in the last week of April.
