Kathmandu. There is a tug-of-war even in the local budget. Sometimes the conflict between the mayor and the chief administrative officer, sometimes the mayor and the deputy mayor, is affecting the budget itself. {
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According to the law, the local level must bring the budget for the upcoming fiscal year by Asad 10. In that regard, many local levels have brought the budget. Especially the country’s largest Kathmandu Metropolitan City, including Dharan Sub-metropolitan City, could not bring the budget within the deadline. {
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Kathmandu Mayor Balendra Sah said that Kathmandu’s budget has become uncertain due to the conflict between the deputy mayor and the chief administrative officer, while in Dharan, the budget remains uncertain due to the conflict between the mayor and the deputy mayor. Similar conflicts have been seen in dozens of other municipalities. {
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Federalist Khimlal Devkota said that the failure of some municipalities, including Kathmandu, to bring in a budget is not their only fault. According to federalist Devkota, in the case of Kathmandu, the result of the federal government forcibly retaining the same employee after the mayor raised questions about the executive officer has been seen in the budget. According to him, the central government should not have sent the disputed chief administrator despite the mayor’s disagreement. {
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Federalist Devkota said, “The central government should not have sent the disputed chief administrator despite the mayor’s disagreement. The entire civil society has said that the mayor of Kathmandu has done a good job. In that sense, political parties should have supported the mayor in the same way. There was no support from the federal government either. There was no support from the political parties either. This does not mean that the mayor of Kathmandu is right. The one who is in the driving seat.'{
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‘The most flexible one should be in the driving seat. If you are going to run the government, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has used the executive authority of the entire country. Oli should be the most flexible. He should be able to bring everyone from the ruling party to the opposition together. The mayors are in the driving seat of the locals. There is no one in Kathmandu. His role is to bring everyone together, including the deputy mayor. He definitely has weaknesses. But the federal government has not shown the support it should have,’ he said.{
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He said that it is not right for the federal government to forcibly ‘load’ controversial employees to defeat the mayor and chairman who were elected by thousands of people. According to federalist Devkota, the problem is currently seen in Kathmandu Metropolitan City when employees do not listen to the mayor and only follow orders from above.{
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However, he says that the local level is improving overall. According to him, the budget is still not coming in line with the spirit of federalism. Pocket projects are being kept on a whim and are being implemented. The problem is being created when the federal government does not make laws.{
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Meanwhile, government officials have said that the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration is facilitating the local level that has not received the budget. According to them, the local level should bring the budget on time. The budget cannot be spent without approval. If spent in this way, it is considered as waste.{
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Kali Prasad Parajuli, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Federal Affairs, said that the country is currently implementing federalism and every government is legally obliged to bring a budget within the specified time.{
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The union has to bring a budget by Jestha 15, the provinces by Asad 1, and the local level by Asad 10. As per the provisions of the Local Government Operation Act, the local level has to bring a budget. He informed that so far, the budgets of 290 local levels have been uploaded on the website of the Ministry of Federal Administration.{
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He said that some may have brought a budget but have not uploaded it on the website, and he said that the Federal Ministry has already issued a circular to all local levels asking them to upload their budgets. According to Joint Secretary Parajuli, the Ministry of Federal Affairs is asking local levels that have not brought a budget with interest. Facilitation work is being done in some difficult cases. {
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Joint Secretary Parajuli said, ‘The Ministry of Federal Affairs is asking the local levels that are not bringing the budget with interest. Facilitation work is being done in some difficult cases. We are saying that if the ministry needs to facilitate something, whether it is due to the vacancy of the Chief Administrative Officer or there is some problem, we will do it. Our team is facilitating. We also expect that all local levels except a few have brought the budget.’ {
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According to Parajuli, every government should work responsibly. Currently, the local level is working independently as a government. The local level can make its own laws, the executive is the local level’s own, the local level has the right to submit the budget on time, and from bringing policies and programs to approving them. If the budget is not brought on time, it will be difficult to manage the expenditure.{
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If the budget is spent without approval from the next fiscal year, it will be an irregularity. The attention of the Auditor General’s Office and the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority may be drawn. Therefore, Parajuli says that all local levels should bring the budget responsibly. According to him, various indicators have been set for the evaluation of the local level. Parajuli said that even the grants of local levels that do not bring the budget on time may be cut.{
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In fact, even if we look at the budgets of the five metropolitan cities of the country, a total budget of 28.93 billion has been received. Lalitpur Metropolitan City has brought a budget of Rs 7.46 billion 8.392 billion for the upcoming fiscal year 2082/2083. {
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In the budget presented to the municipal assembly by the deputy mayor of the metropolis, Manjali Shakya Bajracharya, the budget has prioritized areas such as self-reliant economy, quality education, clean drinking water for every household, social development, health and youth employment. {
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Similarly, Pokhara Metropolitan City has made public a budget of Rs 8.35 billion 12 million, prioritizing tourism, infrastructure construction, education and health. It has also been announced that a program called ‘I Tell My Story’ will be run by including the Gen Z generation and involving them, and that the Gen Z generation will be sent to sister cities of Pokhara under the international youth exchange program.{
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Bharatpur Metropolitan City has also brought a budget of 5 billion 197.166 billion rupees for the coming year. The budget prioritizes infrastructure as well as creating productive and sustainable employment. Birgunj Metropolitan City has brought a budget of 3 billion 224.849 billion rupees for the coming fiscal year 2082/083. Education, health, and sanitation have been prioritized in the budget.{
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Meanwhile, Biratnagar Metropolitan City has announced a budget of Rs 4.4 billion for the upcoming fiscal year 2082/083. With the slogan ‘Smart Class Smart Student’, technology-friendly programs such as smart boards, AI, robotics, coding, the concept of mega schools, and booster classes for weak students have been included in education.{
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Many local-level budgets also show their originality. However, experts argue that the mayor alone cannot be blamed for the lack of budget for Kathmandu Metropolitan City.{
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What happens if the budget is not brought on time?{{ TAG_CLOSE_strong_50}}
There is no legal provision to take action against local levels that do not bring the budget on time. However, federalism expert Devkota says that arrangements should be made to not give the budget to local levels that do not bring the budget on time. According to him, the relevant provincial and federal affairs ministries need to take an interest in why which local levels did not bring the budget.{
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He says that local levels that bring the budget late should be identified, given minimum grants, and legal arrangements should be made to give the resources of those local levels to other local levels. If a municipality in any province does not work, arrangements should be made to give that budget to another municipality. If that happens, there will be competition as well as bringing the budget on time.{
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Delay in passing the budget could stop all payments except social security allowances. Since social security allowances are paid by the federal government, it will not be difficult to distribute them, so salaries and other expenses will be stopped. The general public will also not be able to pay the land and property tax that is due to the local government.{
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Experts believe that it will be difficult for the local government to distribute salaries and allowances, unless the local government makes other arrangements. According to them, if the local budget is not passed before Shrawan, programs such as physical construction, procurement, training, and sightseeing at the local level will also be stopped as soon as the new fiscal year begins. It will also be difficult to collect taxes from the municipal council.
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