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30 June, Kathmandu. Prithvisubba Gurung, Deputy Secretary General of CPN-UML, rarely speaks in Parliament. When he speaks, he speaks with preparation on theoretical and political issues. In the discussion on the ministerial budget in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, Gurung raised very serious questions about the ministers.
He spoke for 23 minutes while talking about the budget of the Ministry of Urban Development and sought a roadmap for Nepal’s development.
While talking about the budget of the Ministry of Defense, he raised questions about the utility of the Nepali Army. The concerned minister commented that he could not intervene in the budget.
When talking about the budget of the Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens, he commented that the target group was not taken into account.
Speaking about the budget of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, he said that he could not find the right way to cooperate with the Parliament. He sought clarity at the policy level saying that overall the budget is not goal-oriented and the purpose is not visible.
He suggested that the country can move forward in the journey of economic development and prosperity only by abolishing unnecessary ministries, departments, commissions and structures.
The budget of the Ministry of Law did not understand the parliamentary system
Gurung, who did not enter into the matter of how much budget was allocated for the Ministry of Law, what kind of plans were made, said that the attention of the Ministry could not be reached to debate in the Parliament and to implement the common issues that came out of the debate through law.
‘I don’t have many comments about the budget of the Ministry of Law. But where are we going, how are we going? This is the first comment of Gurung that our program and budget should guide somewhere.
Gurung, the founding chief minister of Gandaki province, said that the Ministry of Law should coordinate with the House of Representatives, the National Assembly and the Provincial Assembly as well. However, according to this, the program could not come.
What are we doing for the management and effectiveness of these assemblies (Representative Assembly, National Assembly and Provincial Assemblies)? It doesn’t look like that”, MP Gurung expressed his displeasure.
Looking at the budget of the Ministry of Law, he said that he could not find an answer, he asked, ‘How does this (Ministry of Law) understand the parliamentary system? How do you manage the parliamentary system?’
UML’s Padam Giri is in the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs. Gurung commented that Minister Giri has not been able to direct the attention of the ministry towards making a lively discussion in the parliament and solving the problems of the country as well as making the necessary laws.
Gurung believes that if the law ministry wants to, it can make the parliament effective and make it the center of attraction for everyone.
He added, ‘This Parliament should become a platform for debate and consensus. Parliament should be established as a center that can face the challenges facing the nation and solve all the problems facing the nation.’
He is of the opinion that the modality of discussion in Parliament should be modified. Mentioning that there is a tendency to raise topics only for public consumption even if they are not raised at zero or special times, Gurung suggested that a plan should be made to discuss the Bill more and more by cutting such topics.
Let’s not argue over the bill, let’s discuss it with fun. Parliament is the place where the bill is made. If there is not enough discussion on the bill here, how are we trying to make this parliament?’ He adds, ‘Thinking, brainstorming, emphasis is everything. From this different point of emphasis, if we reach a point by searching for unity within diversity and make a matured law, it can continue to show the way to the country for a long time.’
He said that the program of coordination with the Provincial Assembly was not included in the budget of the Ministry of Law and suggested to take initiatives from other angles for this. He reiterated, ‘Looking at the budget of the ministry, the matter of making the parliamentary system effective is missing. Let’s improve it.’
Question to the Defense Minister: Policy intervention in the budget?
MP Gurung commented that Defense Minister Hari Prasad Upreti could not make policy interventions in his ministry’s budget.
It is necessary to make the Nepali army more modernized, more professionally capable. Many things within it have not been democratized yet. I think that the republic has not come there. For the management of its internal life, the Ministry of Defense should make some kind of policy’, said Gurung.
However, he commented that the minister was unable to intervene politically while making the budget.
‘…that is the budget made by the joint secretaries and deputy secretaries. Honorable Ministers had to intervene. Politicians should be able to interfere in the policy, interfere in the program, interfere in the policy, budget. It should be like this this time, we had to say our budget’, Gurung asked the minister.
He raised questions about the usefulness of the Nepali Army saying that even the top leaders of the party hesitated to intervene in policy matters.
‘Political parties, we allow Nepali Army, which is such a sensitive structure, which is a part, to do business with it, we allow it to contract. How justified is this issue of sensitivity in terms of security?’, Gurung said, ‘Today, leaders cannot open their mouths about the involvement of the Nepali Army in development. But we have to think now.’
He warned that a crisis may arise in the country where the military’s ambitions have increased by being involved in development.
‘If ambition increases too much, what will it do to our democracy and republic? Haven’t we seen the rise of ambition in different countries causing crisis? We have seen’, Gurung proposes to review the utility of the army.
Gurung explained that the understanding that national security is only the Nepalese army is wrong.
“There is an understanding that the national security is only the Nepali army. Our leaders have too. There are also parties. But I want to say – national security is not just an empty Nepali army.’
Mentioning that the important part of national security, the biggest part, the reliable part is the Nepali Army, he added, ‘In addition to that, there is Nepal Police, APF, NID. All these institutions have national security only in proper form.’
The budget of the Ministry of Women did not address the main problem
MP Gurung suggested that the Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens should first make a law that suits the interests of the groups and classes of people affiliated to the Ministry.
He commented that various days of women, children, senior citizens, disabled and gender minorities were allowed to be celebrated, but adequate legal arrangements could not be made.
‘Senior citizens are respected by giving an allowance of four thousand! According to Gurung, policies should be implemented to solve the problems related to senior citizens.
He commented that the budget should be decided and implemented after setting the policy program, but that is not the case and the minister has brought a budget focused on specific areas.
‘…If the budget is limited to a constituency, a province or a district, it will cause misfortune. The concept of balanced development is also shared. It also creates disinterest in the strengthening of democracy. It spoils everything’, commented MP Gurung on the budget of the Ministry of Women.
Mentioning that the Manav Seva Ashram is serving the citizens abandoned by their families on the streets, he said, ‘How much support has this ministry under the Prime Minister (Women’s Ministry) provided in this work? I did not see the budget anywhere.’
Gurung has a serious comment that the women’s ministry has not paid attention to making a budget to address the main problems.
“The Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens should have taken up everything in the budget, and emphasized on everything that should have been done, because the traditional budget came without emphasis, it will be in the interest of the country only if it can be reformed,” said Gurung.
Budget to be placed in the Guinness Book of World Records
MP Gurung said that all the MPs may be happy with the Ministry of Urban Development because they have planned for each MP. However, he commented that even though all the MPs are happy because everyone has some plan, there is extreme criticism.
‘Do you know the number of plans here?’ MP Gurung questioned the MPs themselves.
Mentioning that there are 7,538 plans under this ministry, he added, ‘There are only a little more than 3,500 plans for rural areas. Urban areas have a little more budget.’
Satirizing this, MP Gurung adds, ‘7 thousand 538 plans/programmes in a ministry with such a small budget means that it should be placed in the Guinness Book of World Records. What brought so many plans! Our minister should be given a place of residence.’
Mentioning that every budget should carry the government’s vision, he added, ‘The budget of this ministry (Urban Development Ministry’s budget) is neither compatible with any policy nor does it seem to touch our vision. Nor does it appear that our goal is this, it is not visible. I have never seen such a budget anywhere in the world.’
He said that he was using the word ‘unfortunate’ when everyone was happy with the budget of the Ministry of Urban Development. His question to Urban Development Minister Dhan Bahadur Budha is, ‘How much manpower is there to implement 7,538 plans?’
Mentioning that the Ministry of Urban Development needs at least 20,000 employees to implement this plan, he adds, ‘Has this Ministry worked according to its capacity or not?’
He commented that the name of the ministry is urban development, but in the work, from the suspension bridge at the corner of Rolpa, the road of five lakhs to be built by the local level, the building of two lakhs will be built by myself. This is where he asks, ‘Super Prime Minister or what is this ministry?’
He alleges that the budget of this ministry is allocated only for fazul programs. He suggested that the more the budget gets fragmented, the more the budget will not be implemented.
He suggested that if the budget is to be improved, the number of ministries should be reduced. He recalled that the Administrative Reforms Commission suggested that there should be only 12 ministries in the federal government.
Let’s make all 12 ministries. Why are we spending waste?’ He says, ‘current expenditure is 70 percent more. Capital expenditure is around 30 percent of the total, that is also called financial management, what else is said. What if we spend Aadhaar on that too?’
He pointed out the need for reform as a whole, saying that socialism cannot come in Nepal if this is happening. He is of the opinion that the number of ministries can be reduced, unnecessary departments and offices can be eliminated.
Calling the District Coordination Committee ‘Galgaand’, MP Gurung demanded its abolition. Why do we need 77 district coordination committees? It has no use’, he said.
Ganuruparne Gurung suggests that there should be a binding legal system so that a maximum of seven ministries can be formed in all the seven provinces.
By doing this, the cost can be reduced a lot, he explained. “If the expenditure of the development budget is more than the current expenditure, it can be said that the country has taken the path of development, the development industry has taken the right track,” he said.
He is of the opinion that if the Ministry of Urban Development is to work, even though it may not be the same as developed countries, it is possible to study what needs to be done to bring the metropolitan city of Nepal to the level of the metropolitan city of developing countries.
He suggested that the Ministry of Urban Development should be able to move forward with only a plan on how to manage 6 metropolises and 11 sub-metropolises.
“The Ministry of Rural Development will be created for the rest of the municipalities and rural municipalities by canceling the other two or four ministries. If it goes like this, it can be done. Let us break all these things politically’, he said.
He is of the opinion that the country can move forward in the journey of prosperity only if the traditional methods, thinking and trends are broken and policies are formulated and implemented in a new way.
‘If our own structures, weapons and tools are not right, what will happen if you are strong? No matter how strong the demon is, if it is loose in the hand, it cannot cut anything’, MP Gurung adds, ‘all these ministries, departments, commissions and structures are like the demon. We can only develop if we can change it.’
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