Madhesh Government Unveils Rs 4.1 Billion Budget with Policies That May Weaken Consumer Committees

The Madhesh government has announced a budget of Rs 4 billion 1.36 crore for the upcoming fiscal year. To enforce financial discipline, the budget adopts a policy of not allocating funds for projects costing less than Rs 1 crore. The previous ‘Chief Minister’s Educate and Save the Daughter’ program has been modified, with provisions for implementing the ‘Women Self-Employment Program’.

Finance Minister Yubaraj Bhattarai presented the budget in the Provincial Assembly on Monday, stating that it was designed to realize the shared vision of ‘Made in Madhesh, Prosperous Province’. However, doubts have been raised regarding how effective this slogan will be in practice. The budget allocates Rs 1.466 billion (35.64%) for recurrent expenditures and Rs 2.647 billion (64.36%) for capital expenditures.

The budget specifies that development projects will be implemented through open competition. To maintain financial discipline, it prohibits budget allocation for projects costing less than Rs 1 crore, places restrictions on the purchase of new vehicles, and aims to cut unproductive expenses to increase investment in capital construction. Former secretaries have highlighted that this budget’s discouragement of development projects below Rs 1 crore significantly weakens consumer committees, marking it as a notable consequence.

The government aims to boost production and employment through this budget. It emphasizes modernizing and innovating the agriculture and industrial sectors to promote local employment and entrepreneurship. Plans include providing direct subsidies to farmers and distributing digital farmer cards, with the government confident that this will eliminate intermediaries from the subsidy distribution process.