Lumbini Province Chief Minister Chet Narayan Acharya has said that preparations have been made to reduce the number of ministries with implementation starting from July 1. In a meeting of the Provincial Development Problem Solving Committee on Wednesday, Acharya informed that the process of reducing the number of ministries will be moved forward by including it in the policy and program.

He said that the adjustment process of the directorates and offices under the ministry will be completed between July 15 and 20 and the work will be moved forward according to the new structure from July 1.

There are currently 12 ministries in the province, including the Office of the Chief Minister and the Council of Ministers. He said that the government has taken this work forward with the objective of reducing current expenses, streamlining the administrative structure and making work performance effective. Similarly, he directed to prepare a proposal to move forward the process of service delivery from the home offices in the district to make the service delivery in the transport sector easy, agile and accessible to everyone. Stating that citizens of remote districts have problems in availing transport services, he directed to start the process to provide the service from the home offices.

Similarly, Chief Minister Acharya directed to submit the budget for the upcoming fiscal year by 20th Jestha and urged to prepare the budget in a realistic, implementation-oriented and error-free manner. He clarified that the entry of outsiders into the budget preparation process is prohibited and instructed not to make plans in the name of pleasing or pleasing anyone. ‘A budget is not made by making plans that cannot be implemented.’ Acharya said, ‘The budget will not increase even a single rupee from the actual situation.’

He directed to pay old liabilities, complete unfinished projects with priority and to move forward with plans that are about to be completed. He emphasized the need to change the way of working to prevent the government from being burdened by unfinished work. He said that there is a need to prioritize balanced and proportionate development. He emphasized that priorities should be determined based on geography and population.

In the meeting, Minister for Physical Infrastructure Development Bhumishwar Dhakal, Minister for Urban Development and Drinking Water Saroj Thapa, Minister for Agriculture, Land Management and Cooperatives Dinesh Panthi, Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning Dhanendra Karki, Minister for Health Khem Bahadur Saru, Minister for Social Development Janmajya Timilsina, Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Sita Sharma Chaudhary, Minister for Youth and Sports Santosh Kumar Pandey and Minister for Internal Affairs and Law Aadesh Kumar Agrawal expressed their views on the priorities of the budget.

Secretary of the Ministry of Urban Development and Drinking Water Basudev Poudel said that the problem arose due to the zero budget in the drinking water projects handed over from the federal government. According to him, there is such a problem in about 400 drinking water projects.

Secretary of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Churna Bahadur Oli said that it is necessary to change the classification criteria of the projects. Stating that priority should be given to water resource management, he opined that recharge zones should be developed in conjunction with Chure conservation to solve the water crisis.

The Ministry of Forests and Environment had pointed out the need to formulate and implement a special plan to reduce human-wildlife conflict, saying that it is increasing. Narad Gautam, Secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Transport, suggested that preparations should be made to provide transport services from home offices and that production-based subsidies should be prioritized.

The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development informed the meeting that the liability is about five billion rupees and that it plans to cover 62 projects in the current fiscal year. Diwakar Bhandari, Secretary of the Ministry of Social Development, said that collaborative human management should be prioritized. Bir Bahadur KC, Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Law, expressed the view that service delivery can be facilitated through the use of information technology.

Umesh Gautam, Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Health, pointed out the need to make the Safe Motherhood Campaign effective and informed that there is a problem in human resource management.