Lumbini's Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning Dhanendra Karki has 'apologized' in the provincial assembly meeting, admitting that there was an error in the budget made public for the fiscal year 2083/84. After he stood up at the rostrum of the provincial assembly meeting held on Monday and apologized, the discussion on the budget has begun.

He said that there was an error in the budget and that some provincial assembly members' plans were missed. Economic Affairs Minister Karki was also in controversy last year while presenting the budget for the current fiscal year. He also admitted that there was a technical error this year. 'We had prepared the budget last year too, and even then some plans of honorable people were missed.' This year too, there were technical errors, especially in Bardiya. Small plans have also been missed in other areas,' he said, 'There have been errors, so I apologize to everyone and inform you that the error will be corrected and addressed in the budget.'

Minister Karki had made public a budget of Rs 37.38 billion 45 lakh for the upcoming fiscal year on 1 Ashar. In the red book of the budget, he has allocated nearly Rs 300 million for his own ward of Gulmi and Gulmi Durbar Rural Municipality, nearly Rs 400 million for Physical Infrastructure Development Minister Ratna Khatri's constituency in Banke alone, and there has been intense opposition after the plan of a provincial assembly member in Bardiya was left out. Provincial assembly members from the ruling party had opposed the budget. Provincial assembly members from the ruling party have launched a signature campaign demanding a rewrite of the budget. After the provincial assembly members from the ruling party launched a campaign warning that the budget would not be passed, Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning Karki, led by Chief Minister Chet Narayan Acharya, are continuously discussing with dissatisfied provincial assembly members. The Ministry of Economic Affairs has allocated nearly Rs 1 billion under the heading of miscellaneous finance for the upcoming fiscal year.

After dissatisfied provincial assembly members agreed to participate in the discussion on the budget, Finance Minister Karki presented a bill in the 11th meeting of the eighth session of the provincial assembly on Sunday to make arrangements for the allocation and expenditure of funds from the provincial consolidated fund for services and works for the fiscal year 2083/084. On Monday, the budget and headings related to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Planning, Urban Development and Drinking Water, Forest and Environment, Agriculture, Land Management and Cooperatives, the Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Social Development, Youth and Sports, the provincial assembly, the provincial public service commission and the office of the Chief Attorney were discussed.

Most of the provincial assembly members from the ruling party who spoke in the discussion on the budget have expressed strong dissatisfaction with the budget. They are demanding a rewrite of the budget, saying that the budget is not equitable, is not oriented towards the prosperity of the entire Lumbini province, and is not in line with the government's policies, programs, budget priorities and principles. Most of the provincial assembly members participating in the ministerial budget discussion have demanded the resignation of the Minister of Economic Affairs from the provincial assembly meeting itself. In the 13th meeting held on Monday, Urban Development and Drinking Water Minister Saroj Thapa, Agriculture, Land Management and Cooperatives Minister Tulsi Prasad Chaudhary and Forest and Environment Minister Devkaran Prasad Kalwar have responded.