May 21: The government’s policies and programmes for the upcoming fiscal year 2023-24 have received mixed reactions from the National Assembly members. 

The lawmakers from the ruling parties have said that the new policies and programmes are capable of instilling a ray of hope among the people while the opposition lawmakers have said that the policies and programmes have nothing new.

In a meeting of the National Assembly on Sunday, the lawmakers from the ruling Nepali Congress and CPN (Maoist Center) were of the view that the government’s new policies and programmes had been successful in addressing the entire issues in a balanced way while the main opposition CPN-UML lawmakers said they were the continuity of the past programmes as they had been prepared with a traditional approach.

They advised the government to incorporate relevant issues missing in the policies and programmes in the budget. 

Jitendra Narayan Dev of the Nepali Congress supported the policies and programmes, citing that they were prepared with hard work.  According to MP Dev, assessment of economic problems, efforts to address them, stress on improvement of diplomatic relations and programmes to promote good government and corruption prevention are some of the good aspects of the policies and programmes.

 "Programmes relating to agriculture and tourism development are also positive," he said, adding that a focus on productive sectors would help achieve prosperity in the nation.

The policies and programmes have incorporated encouraging and important programmes like the setting up of the support price of major productions within the country, the management of fertilizers and the opening of fertilizer industries at home, he said. 

Khim Lal Devkota of the CPN (Unified Socialist) and Mahesh Kumar Mahara of the CPN (Maoist Centre) stressed the need for the practical implementation of the policies and programmes. The announcement of building the Nijgadh International Airport is positive, added Devkota. 

The policies and programmes have created new hopes among the people, viewed Narayan Prasad Dahal, adding that bringing the budget for the coming fiscal year, 2023/24 accordingly would add energy. CPN (Maoist Center)'s Gopi Bahadur Sarki Achhami supported and praised the policies and programmes as having prioritized agriculture, improvement in the national economy, and the creation of job opportunities.

CPN-UML lawmaker Devendra Dahal criticized the government's policies and programmes for lacking any new programmes. He said they were a continuation of the past programmes brought for the purpose of cheap popularity. The policies and programmes have failed to identify the problems and set priorities and the goals, added Dahal.

Sharada Devi Bhatta of the same party said the policies and programmes have failed to address the present economic crisis.

Rajendra Laxmi Gaire of CPN (Unified Socialist) said the policies and programmes have been designed to achieve the sustainable development goals. She stressed on their effective implementation.

Nepali Congress lawmaker Narayan Datta Mishra opined that overall the government’s policies and programmes were good and stressed on their implementation.

Udaya Bahadur Bohara of Unified Socialist expressed the belief that several new programmes included in the policies and programmes will support the economy. He mentioned that reduction in government expenditure and increment in development expenses were welcome topics.

Bhuwan Bahadur Sunar of the Maoist Center opined that inclusion of new and popular programmes was a welcome move.

UML's Gopal Bhattarai called for review of the programmes of the previous years, saying the government's policies and programmes lacked a definite goal.

Radheshyam Paswan of Maoist Center pointed out the need of giving priority to the policies and programmes in the budget as well as their effective implementation.

Three lawmakers register amendment proposals

Three lawmakers from the upper house of the Federal Parliament have registered amendment proposals to the Policies and Programmes for Fiscal Year 2023/24 presented in the Parliament by the government.

Those registering amendment proposals are CPN-UML's Tulasa Kumari Dahal, Bimala Ghimire and Dr Bimala Rai Paudyal.  Lawmaker Bhagawati Neupane presented the amendment proposal on behalf of Dahal, Ghimire and Paudyal. -- RSS