Budget full of ear-appealing slogans to catch public attention, but hard to bring its full implementation : Nepali Congress

Published On: May 31, 2021 07:30 PM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

KATHMANDU, May 31: The Nepali Congress (NC) has termed the budget 2021/22 as a financial plan forwarded by the ‘illegitimate’ government.

Releasing a public statement following a press meet on Monday, the main opposition political party said the government had tried to ignore the fact that the dissolution of the federal parliament is currently a sub judice case in the Supreme Court. “The budget is against the democratic norms and values as it has completely ignored the principle that excess financial burden cannot be imposed on the state and the people in the absence of the elected representatives of people,” reads the press statement.

NC has criticized the government for failing to provide second dose vaccines of coronavirus to the people who received the first dose of vaccine some four months ago. Sending letters to foreign countries begging for the vaccine, breaching the diplomatic norms, is another irresponsible step taken by the government.

NC has highlighted the irregularities made in the purchase of health equipment, negligence shown in the treatment of COVID-19 patients and involvement of government bodies in issuing baseless statements about the pandemic. “Allocating the funds merely on budget documents is not sufficient to materialize availability of vaccines and check spread of the infectious disease,” said the party.

NC has also alleged that the cheap public statements made by Prime Minister KP Oli about the treatment of COVID-19 pandemic were largely responsible for the massive spread of the coronavirus that claimed lives of thousands of people and caused irreparable loss to the national economy. The budget full of ‘ear-appealing’ slogans with funds allocation for long term projects only seems to dodge ordinary people, says the press statement.

Arguing that it will be a tough task for the government to meet the targeted revenue collection of Rs 1.15 trillion, the party said that such a situation is certain to create a setback to manage funds for development projects, blighting the prospect of achieving the economic growth rate of 6.5 percent. Likewise, the heavy burden of public debt to be added in the name of social security expenses will further contribute to worsening the condition of poverty of people in general, according to NC.