Deputy Prime Minister and Urban Development Minister Prakashman Singh has said that the management of basic infrastructure and service expansion for urban development is the main task of the ministry.

Answering the queries raised by MPs during the discussion on various topics of the Ministry of Urban Development under the Appropriation Bill, 2082 in the House of Representatives meeting on Tuesday, he said that the slum development policy, Garbage Management Bill, Urban Development Bill, Bagmati Civilization Bill etc. have been formulated to make the cities safe, clean and sustainable.

He said, 'After I took the leadership of this ministry, I have been continuously paying attention to policy reforms, in this regard, even though there was no urban development policy for a long time after the establishment of the ministry, the urban development policy under my leadership was approved and implemented in November 2081.'

Deputy Prime Minister Singh also said that the ministry, which has a mandate for housing, building construction, urban development and local infrastructure, has allocated 91.34 billion 17 million for programs implemented by the Union, 9.89 billion 62 million for programs implemented by the state, 15.91 billion for programs implemented at the local level and 1.19 billion 65 million for financial management.

'The city is the center of convenience and opportunity, the city has a history of playing an important role in the development and institutionalization of civilization, with the growing population and the demand for human services, the need for systematic urbanization increases,' he said.

He said that even though settlement density has started to increase since the beginning of planned development, there is no separate institutional structure to lead urban development in the long term.

Minister Singh informed that 350 million has been allocated in the next financial year under the safe citizen housing program which was started to bring the households below the poverty line, with straw or thatched roofs under the zinc leaf roof. He said, 'under the public housing program, a budget of 400 million has been allocated to continue the program to be implemented by the provincial government to pay the obligations created for eight thousand 350 households that have not been completed so far.'

Deputy Prime Minister Singh also said that the necessary budget has been allocated for the construction of the federal government office building and other infrastructure in Nawalpur headquarters, the construction of federal government buildings in other districts and the reconstruction of the Shri Mahal Building, the National Library and the building of the Human Rights Commission damaged by the 2072 earthquake.

Similarly, he informed that the local level administrative building infrastructure development program, local level road bridge and community access improvement project, suspension bridge regional program, Karnali prosperity program and Terai Madhesh road infrastructure development program have also been continued.

Noting that more than 11,000 suspension bridges have been constructed by the union, state and local levels, he said that the budget has been allocated for the construction of 200 suspension bridges in the coming year. According to him, 194 administrative buildings have been completed so far and 129 are under construction under the cost sharing of the local level related to the construction of administrative buildings.

Member of Parliament Amresh Kumar Singh stated that most of the budget of the allocation was allocated only in a few districts. Deputy Prime Minister Singh clarified that the transformational strategy of the 16th periodic plan aims to develop the major urban centers and provincial capitals as economic centers with original identity, and accordingly the program has been proposed by giving priority to the urban centers . 'Important agencies under the ministry such as empowered Bagmati Civilization  I would like to inform you that since the programs conducted by the Integrated Development Committee, Kathmandu Valley Development Authority, Federal Secretariat Construction and Management Office, Special Building Project Coordination Office are concentrated in Kathmandu Valley, some budget is seen in Kathmandu Valley more than other regions,' he said .

Under the Urban Resilience and Livelihood Improvement Program with the support of the Asian Development Bank, the main tourist cities of Pokhara, Janakpur and Lumbini, Lumbini Cultural, Devdah, Sainamaina, Tilottama, Ramgram and Siddharthnagar have been allocated a budget of 2.83 billion 2.6 million to develop them into disaster-resilient and livable cities by building integrated urban infrastructure, he said.