September 15: Experts have voiced their concerns regarding the failure of the state to utilize the allocated capital on time. They expressed such view during the fifth policy dialogue of the ECON Talks Series titled “Accelerating capital expenditure to boost infrastructural development in Nepal” organized by Daayitwa, a non-profit, non-governmental organization, in collaboration with the National Democratic Institute (NDI) on Tuesday, September 13.

The dialogue featured personalities like Member of Parliament and former Minister for Urban Development Ram Kumari Jhakri, CNI Vice President Birendra Raj Pandey, Secretary of National Planning Commission Kewal Prasad Bhandari, former Secretary Kishore Thapa and Urban Planning Expert at the IoE, Pulchowk, Sangeeta Singh.

The participants of the dialogue explored issues such as the reasons why capital expenditure is not utilized fully in Nepal, the challenges faced during project implementation, lack of coordination between the government, development partners and private sectors, inefficient work of relevant stakeholders, very rigid rules and regulations, adapting the changing dynamics of urbanization, need of technological advancement in infrastructural development, lack of coordination between the central government and the provincial government, among others.

While addressing the event, MP Ram Kumari Jhakri stressed on the need to amend the acts and regulations related to construction and infrastructure development.

“Inefficiency of the government as well as the private sector, projects not completing the project-cycle, insufficient financial resources in projects than ear marked, and running to select projects only after annual budget allocation are the four main reasons why capital expenditure is not utilized in Nepal,” said Jhakri.

Former Secretary of the Government of Nepal, Krishna Gyawali said that we need to have a “clear vision” of what kind of development we want. “Only making roads and bridges is not development, let’s not concretize development. Development projects need to be inclusive and equitable,” said Gyawali.

The organizer of the policy dialogue plans to present the summary of these dialogues in the house of representative to facilitative effective policy making and implementation to strengthen the economy of the nation.