There is a shortage of funds for 303 concrete bridges and culverts under construction across the country. Due to the shortage of funds, the government has issued an order to transfer funds and manage additional budgets to complete the construction of bridges and culverts quickly.

With the publication of the order in the Gazette, the way has been opened for the Bridge Division under the Roads Department to transfer funds for the construction of these bridges. The work on the bridges contracted since 2068 BS has not been completed. The related projects have stated that the work on these bridges could not be completed due to lack of budget.

The total contract amount of these bridges is 35 billion 563 million rupees. As of 23 Magh 2082, only 21 billion 322 million rupees have been paid. Out of the liability of 14 billion 614.8 million rupees for the contracted bridges, only 2 billion 627 million rupees has been allocated in the current fiscal year. The department has stated that the amount is insufficient. The liabilities of the bridges under construction are still Rs 12.21 billion 25 million. The Road Department has stated that the government decided on 2 Baisakh 2083 to issue an order to transfer the necessary amount and manage the additional budget due to obstacles in paying the mandatory liabilities of the bridges. The Road Department has published a notice in the Gazette accordingly. With the new government coming to power, the way has been opened for transferring funds from projects that have not been completed elsewhere to bridges that are under construction, said Lalijan Khanal, head of the Bridge Division.

‘The Ministry of Finance had been strict about not transferring funds from projects that have not received source consent under the Financial Responsibility Act,’ he said. ‘The ordinance that has come now has made it easier to manage the budget for bridges that have been contracted and are in the construction phase.’ He said that it has become easier to transfer funds from projects that have not been completed elsewhere and send them to bridges that are in the construction phase.

‘Earlier, when we tried to do this work, there was a problem of not transferring the money, saying that the finance ministry could not give the source agreement, but now the obstacles have been removed,’ he said, ‘In all the contracts that were started in the past, if there is a shortage of money, it can be transferred.’ He said that there is no need to visit the Ministry of Finance for that. Most of the bridges under construction are in Madhesh Province. As the monsoon season is approaching, the locals have been facing problems in coming and going when the bridge work is not completed on time. No matter how old they are, according to the agreement, the construction of all the bridges should be completed by mid-Ashar.

‘There was a problem with the bridges being worked on due to lack of budget,’ said Chief Khanal, ‘There is no problem with the budget at the moment, the work is being done within the current fiscal year.’ He claimed that the work of all 303 bridges under contract will be completed. Earlier, the Ministry of Finance had to come to transfer funds, but now the concerned ministry has the right to transfer funds within the budget ceiling, said Amrit Lamsal, Joint Secretary and Spokesperson of the Ministry of Finance.

‘Now, if there is a budget that has not been spent anywhere within the capital budget heading, the concerned ministries will have the right to transfer funds,’ he said, ‘Earlier, it would have taken time to come to the Ministry of Finance for this, but now it will save time, and it has become easier to transfer funds from the budget of a project that has not been completed to the one that has been completed.’ Earlier, the concerned ministries, departments and project heads were frustrated while going to the Ministry of Finance for transfer funds. Even then, they did not receive the funds on time. With the current decision, there will be no problem in arranging and transferring the necessary funds for ongoing projects.

Former Secretary Keshav Kumar Sharma said that the decision made by the government will make it easier to speed up the pace of work on the project. "First, we had to wait until mid-December to transfer the funds. It took more than a month and a half to complete the process and transfer the funds," he said. "Now, with the decision made by the government, the funds for the unfinished project have been transferred to another project. This does not stop the payment of the completed work. The concerned body should have completed the process and decided on it and transferred the funds."