Monday, November 02, 2009

Nepal: Critical institutions to be paralyzed as Maoists block budget

FOCUS Information Agency - The state's critical institutions including the cabinet, ministries, embassies, security organs and many other agencies are likely to be paralyzed from this month on as the Nepali government has failed to get the budget for the current fiscal year endorsed by the parliament, Xinhua News Agency informed.

According to Monday's The Kathmandu Post, this is because of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal(Maoist)'s (UCNP-M) obstruction of parliamentary proceedings for the last three months.
The government has already stopped providing salaries to ministers although the cabinet has spent almost 33 percent of the budget, according to the Finance Ministry.

According to the Advance Expenditure Bill, no government agency can spend more than one third of the authorized budget.

The ministry said that state bodies such as the Constituent Assembly, Ministry of Law and Justice, Poverty Alleviation Fund, Nepali embassies, consul general's offices abroad, Armed Police Force, Bir, Kanti and Shukraraj hospitals and B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences won't be allowed any more funds for either daily operation or salaries.

As many as 14 institutions that get their budgets sanctioned by the District Treasury Controller Office, Kathmandu have already exceeded the 33 percent limit and 15 other institutions are also on the verge of crossing the limit.

Finance Minster Surendra Pandey said on Sunday that the government would not be able to provide full salary to its employees this month if the budget is not passed immediately.
"The jail administration may not be able to provide food to jailbirds and hospital services may be affected," he said at a press meeting.

Pandey said he was holding dialogue with the UCNP-M leadership and expressed confidence that they would allow the budget to be passed from the parliament.

Published by i On Global Trends - Mike Hitchen Online - news, opinion, analysis
See also Sydney Irresistible
Putting principles before profits