Mixed Reactions on Government Policies and Programs

Parliamentarians taking part in the discussion on the newly unveiled policies and programmes of the government for the upcoming fiscal year 2023/24 furnished a host of suggestions to the government through the parliament.

They have univocally called for effective implementation of the newly unveiled policies and programmes, optimum use of available resources, good-governance practice, elimination of corruption and prioritization of the policies and the programmes among others.

Bhanubhakta Joshi pressed for adopting the policy of zero-tolerance against corruption. He viewed that there should not be a situation where the guilty one gets scot-free while the innocent ones are prosecuted.

Stating that the government's policies and programmes for the upcoming fiscal year were overall good, he cast his doubt over its effective implementation.

Similarly, Abdul Khan lauded the introduction of 'Made in Nepal', 'Make in Nepal' and 'Our products, Our Dignity' among other programmes that aim to boost domestic production. He suggested that the government should consider entering appropriate agreements with labour destination countries so as to address the issues prevailing in the foreign employment sector in the country.

Deepak Khadka remarked that some important issues were lacking in the government's policies and programmes. He asserted that the government should adopt policies to increase production and enhance productivity in the country heavily dependent on remittance.

He also opined that the government should seek additional resources for the budget as he added, the government was struggling to garner resources for the upcoming budget. He argued that the people's representatives should also fulfil the aspirations of the people who elected them. "It is necessary to fulfil their aspirations by optimally utilizing our resources."

Underscoring transparency, Mahesh Basnet, said that the government's expenditure should be evaluated and the public accounting system streamlined.

He rued over the policies and programmes saying they failed to clearly reflect issues relating to the scope of insurance, effective execution of the Prime Minister Agriculture Modernization Project, and welfare of the landless squatters, among others.

Another parliamentarian Mahendra Bahadur Shahi raised questions on the effectiveness of the policies and programmes introduced by the erstwhile and incumbent government.  "It is imperative to self-evaluate the effective implementation of the policies and programmes rolled out by the previous government," he said.

Manish Jha emphasized making public service delivery more effective and ensuring good governance. "A study has shown that political discontent was on the rise in Nepal. We all are held accountable for that. The discontent has a lot to do with slacking public service delivery and good governance," he observed.

According to Deepak Bahadur Singh, the government should take the lead to revive the sick industries. Expressing concern over the flagging state of the Hetauda Cement Factory and Udayapur Cement Factory, he spoke of the need to make the management of these sick industries robust.

He also suggested that each province have a Medical Hospital. He viewed that there should be a referendum on the governing system and secularism.

Ranju Kumari Jha commented that the policies and programmes had repeatedly included the same issues for the past five years. According to her, issues relating to establishing a fertilizer factory, increasing investment for public-private partnerships in the education sector, insurance for sportspersons and establishment of Ramraja Singh Health and Science Academy among others were missed in the policies and programmes.

Ambar Bahadur Thapa said that the upcoming policies and programmes were more distribution-oriented than result-oriented."There is the absence of result-oriented plans in the government's upcoming policies and programmes that could be achieved within a year or two."

The next meeting of the House of Representatives to deliberate on the government's newly unveiled policies and programmes is scheduled today at 11:00 am.