June 6: Speakers from various walks of life have expressed concerns that the budget for the upcoming fiscal year has not addressed the burning issues of the nation.

Speaking at an interaction of budget for the fiscal year 2079/80 organized recently in the capital, members of the Nepal Intellectuals Association stated that the budget cannot address the problems of the nation as it is not practical.

 Speaking at the program, CPN-UML General Secretary Shankar Pokhrel said that the budget is unable to address the main issues that it is supposed to include. Stating that the country is in a state of economic crisis at present, he stated that the budget has been unable to guide the country in the right direction by facing the current economic crisis.

Pokhrel stated that if the country enters a dire financial crisis, winning the election is meaningless. He also emphasized that economic growth cannot be achieved without increasing the capital expenditure and pointed out the lack of no coordination between the policies and programmes and the budget.

Presenting a paper at the event, economist Prof. Dr. Govind Nepal stated that the budget is focused on the election.

He said that the emphasis on self-reliant economy, agriculture, construction of infrastructure, continuity of old plans, welfare of the people and trying to transform them are good but there are problems in implementation due to the uncertainty of budget resources.

Speaking at the same program, Prof. Dr. Pushpa Raj Kandel, former vice-chairperson of the National Planning Commission, said that the budget is introduced as a means to confuse the people and feed the task forces of parties while focusing on the upcoming election.

Meanwhile, former Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission Dr. Dinesh Chandra Devkota said that the budget allocated lesser amount for the local levels and the states which are the pillars of federalism.

Similarly, economist Dr Dilliraj Khanal said that there is a contradiction between the goal of the budget, the word socialism and the provisions in it. Former member of the Planning Commission Min Bahadur Shahi as well agreed that the budget has been unable to address the issues of socio-economic transformation and ending inequality.

Dr. Yamun Ghale, an agronomist, said that access and control over the source of production is not mentioned in the budget while talking about increasing production and productivity. Ghale added that women should be given access to information, inclusion and technology for climate friendly farming.

Likewise, health sector expert Prof. Dr. Bidhan Nidhi Poudel stated that the previous plans of the health sector have been abandoned recklessly and new programs have been added without any study. Poudel said that the budget failed to understand the misery of the health sector.

Urban development expert Bipin Chitrakar said that the budget is not realistic and added that the issue of building satellite city and housing has been introduced without any study. Another expert Bidhan Acharya said that the target of revenue collection is totally unrealistic and expressed concern over the decrease in the budget of the health sector.

Former ambassador Dr Nirmal BK said that Dalits and marginalized communities are mentioned at various places but no budget has been allocated for them.