KATHMANDU: Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel has directed the state and local levels to select projects only on the basis of necessity and justification.
At the sixth meeting of the Inter-governmental Finance Council, Finance Minister Poudel said that it was important to complete the project preparation work including master plan, land, environmental impact assessment and resource management while selecting the projects.
Stating that there is a possibility of problems and neglect in the selection of projects beyond capacity, Finance Minister Poudel urged to pay special attention while selecting the projects.
He said that the aspirations of the people for development have also increased along with the practice of federal, state and local governments and the three levels of government have been complementary and not antagonistic to each other. Stating that it is necessary to enrich the financial federalism, Finance Minister Poudel urged the state and local levels to help in this endeavor.
The meeting discussed the completion of unfinished and multi-year projects with high priority, maintaining financial discipline and law enforcement and economy, and integrating the financial reporting system between the three tiers.
Similarly, coordination and cooperation between the three levels in the prevention, control and treatment of COVID-19, management of resources and manpower, elimination of duplication of plans, mobilization of resources in the areas of regional and local needs and priorities were also discussed.
At the program, state and local level officials suggested that the current grant distribution system should be improved. The people’s representatives at the local level had expressed the view that the implementation of such projects would be facilitated by selecting the projects in coordination with the local level.
In the meeting organized through virtual medium, the Ministers of Economic Affairs and Planning of the states, Secretary of the Ministry of Finance Shishir Kumar Dhungana, Revenue Secretary Ram Sharan Pudasaini, Economic Advisor Dr. Prakash Kumar Shrestha, state secretaries, experts, local level people’s representatives and others were present.
