Contents of Karnali’s appropriation bill made public

By Our Correspondent,Surkhet, May 27: The principles, objectives, priorities and major policies of the budget and programmes included in the appropriation bill for the fiscal year 2023/24 of the Karnali Province government have been made public.

Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning of Karnali Province government Bedraj Singh presented it in the provincial assembly meeting on Thursday.

Minister Singh said that there is a plan to achieve the quantitative goals determined by the 15th Plan of the government and the first five-year plan of Karnali Province.

He said that in order to ensure economic and social transformation, equitable society and social justice, the budget will be formulated giving priorities to education, health, production and employment as infrastructure for these.

Minister Singh informed that in order to expand the scope of internal revenue of the province and to make revenue mobilisation systematic, reliable and sustainable, detailed study and research will be carried out alongside coordination and cooperation with the local level.

Stating that the poverty and hunger are big challenges of the province, he said that the government will emphasise on building prosperous Karnali by ending poverty and hunger focusing on production, commercialisation and marketing.

He said that the programme will be designed in such a way as to protect the environment and adapt to climate change while carrying out activities, including the construction of physical infrastructure.

The purpose of the budget and programme is to develop the economy of the province by improving the livelihoods of people of the province.

Likewise, the objectives of the budget and programme are to ensure food security and nutrition, including food rights, food sovereignty, by increasing the production and productivity of agriculture, industry, minerals, forestry and tourism.

Minister for Economic Affairs Singh said that the aim is to develop sustainable, reliable, accessible, people-friendly, quality and environment-friendly infrastructure while properly addressing the geographical disparity and inequality within the province.

In addition, by mobilising the limited financial resources available in Karnali, a policy will be adopted to complete provincial pride projects, multi-year, incomplete and sequential projects, to study and implement new result-oriented projects.

He said that policy will be adopted to attract investment from the private and external sectors through effective implementation of the project bank.

A policy will be taken to make Karnali Province self-sufficient in food items, fruits, vegetables, dairy products and meat products by arranging for easy supply and storage of food items, he said.

There will be a theoretical discussion about the principles, objectives, priorities and major policies of the budget and programmes presented by the government.