Insufficient budget for large projects

There are many examples of workers stopping work in large projects demanding wages. On the other hand, the federal government has been spending the budget on small projects that cannot give meaningful results and should be done through the state and local governments. This shows that the government has not paid enough attention to determining priorities in terms of budget allocation.

The government is not allocating enough to the projects of national pride that are supposed to be milestones in the country's economic development, social transformation, job creation and capital formation. Whereas, it is the government's policy to prioritize resource allocation and assurance for such projects. According to the agreement, the construction of Pushpalal (Madhyapahari) Lokmarg, which is under the project of Rashtriya Gaurav, was supposed to be completed in the financial year 073/74. Even though the deadline is being extended, as the work has not been completed, there are plans to extend the deadline till the financial year 083/84. In this way, the main reason for the extension of the project deadline is lack of budget.

The government allocated 3.95 billion 75 million rupees for this project in the current financial year, but for the next financial year, it has allocated only 3.59 billion 29 million rupees. Another project of Gaurav's Hulaki Highway has also been reduced in budget. While there is a budget of 3.489 billion rupees in the current year, only 3.21 billion rupees has been allocated for the next financial year. The progress of this project, which should be completed within the financial year 079/80, is now only about 66 percent. For the Kathmandu-Tarai/Madhesh Expressway (Fast Track), which is being worked on in all sections except Khokna, the government has allocated a budget of 22.54 billion 93 million rupees for the next financial year, increasing it by only 40 million rupees compared to the current year, which is insufficient for the project. There is a complaint.

In other projects of Gaurav, the budget allocation trend is almost the same. The Sunkoshi-Marin diversion project, which is being worked on at full speed, has reduced the budget to Rs 3.998 billion, while the current year's budget was Rs 4.17 billion. In some other projects, the budget has been increased compared to the current year, but not enough. The Siddhababa tunnel, which is currently being worked on, did not reach the amount of 45 crore allocated in the current year, and 33 crore was transferred by transfer. For the

project, which requested two billion rupees for the next financial year, the government allocated only 650 million rupees. 5 billion 60 million budget has been requested for Madan Bhandari Highway, only 3.53 billion has been allocated. The construction of this project was started 6 years ago to be completed within the next financial year. But physical progress is only 50 percent. The government, which is wasting the budget allocation for the ongoing projects, is announcing new projects all over Hachuwa. A clear example of this is the announcement of the economic triangle project under 'Entrepreneurship and Development' without study in the budget of the next financial year brought last month. Adequate budget allocation is the first condition for timely completion of

projects. Despite the budget, if the work is delayed, there is a place to warn, and if the assigned work is not done on time, action is taken against the construction company. But since the budget is not enough, the government cannot put pressure on the construction. As the duration of the project increases, the cost also increases.

We rarely have large projects that are completed within the time frame specified in the initial contract. This has also raised questions about the efficiency of the country in building infrastructure. The trend of delaying the project for years by allocating insufficient budget is wrong. The government should prioritize and allocate budget to the projects. Budget should not be allowed in projects that are being worked on in a hurry. The provincial and local governments should be given the responsibility of carrying out small projects in accordance with the jurisdiction determined by the constitution and laws, the federal government should focus on large projects.