The Chief Minister of Lumbini Province, Chetnarayan Acharya, has said that the federal government did not send equalization grant money last year, which has added to the financial burden on the state government.
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli speaking in a virtual meeting with the Chief Ministers of all the seven provinces on Friday, Chief Minister Acharya said that due to the non-receipt of equalization grant, the provincial government has added two billion more financial obligations. He drew the attention of the federal government by mentioning that it is difficult to pay the added liability now.
He said that there was a problem in Lumbini province because the federal government did not allocate budget in the current fiscal year for the contract projects handed over from the federal government. "Under the Ministry of Road Infrastructure Development, there is a problem in implementing 10 projects due to lack of budget," he said.
Acharya informed that the state government has promoted four projects as projects of state pride and those works have gained momentum. He said that there is a lack of budget to make payments based on material progress, and he asked for resource assurance.
He complained that although 255 thousand metric tons of chemical fertilizers are required for all crops in the province, only 96 thousand metric tons are received annually and chemical fertilizers could not be provided to the farmers based on their needs. He urged the federal government to make arrangements for easy distribution of chemical fertilizers.
Acharya said that the provincial government is performing policy reforms for good governance, transparency and ending corruption and has given priority to reducing wasteful expenditure. He informed the Prime Minister about important decisions such as the current government's decision to give facilities to pre-specialized persons for ten years, the implementation of a five-year strategic plan against corruption, and the keeping of the chief minister and ministers under the code of conduct.
