The Home Ministry has placed a demand for Rs 700 million to establish border outposts at 89 sensitive places in the bordering areas of the Tarei region to check cross-border movement of criminals and armed groups. An additional budget has been demanded for recruitment of manpower of around 3,000 to man the proposed outposts and for the necessary infrastructure and equipment, said an official.
Likewise, the Home Ministry has also asked M0F for over Rs 600 million for launching a program to win the ‘hearts and minds’ of local people, especially in the Tarei region, and to gather information for fighting the armed criminal groups.
However, according to sources, Finance Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai opposed the program, pointing out that a similar program was launched to quell the Maoist insurgency. Similarly, the ministry has also demanded another Rs 300- 400 million for the constructing new residential facilities for police personnel in places across the country.
Similarly, the Ministry of Education has placed an additional demand for Rs 1.01 billion, a large chunk of which has been sought for the National Literacy Campaign. The government in its budget for the current fiscal year said it is mobilizing a total of 35,000 youths for the campaign and the budget has allocated Rs 1.04 billion for the purpose.
MoF has of late demanded an additional Rs 320 million for the program, pointing out that 9,000 more youths than planned had already been deployed to serve around 1.1 million illiterates around the country.
The Ministry of Water Resources ranks third in terms of demand for extra budgetary allocation. MoF officials informed myrepublica.com that the water resources ministry has asked for Rs 220 million for the Shikta Irrigation Project, Rs 250 million for Chamalia Hydropower Project and another Rs 300 million for extending high-voltage transmission lines. The Ministry of Physical Planning and Works has also asked for an additional Rs 700 million for the expansion of the road network in the hill and Tarei regions.
Interestingly, MoF itself has sought Rs 207 million to meet the increased financial burden following the announcement that additional incentives would be provided for customs employees. Initially the ministry was planning to implement the practice of providing additional incentives that is up to 200 percent of the basic salary, but it was decided to expand to all 29 major customs offices across the country.
prem@myrepublica.com
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