So far, proposals for construction of around 30,000 bridges and roads worth Rs 100 billion have been tabled at the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport (MoPIT) by various influential people aligned to different political parties.
The number of such politically-influenced projects, which contribute very little to the overall development of the country, stood at around 22,000 last year.
Though the government has taken a policy of not mobilizing ministries to undertake local level projects, number of populist proposals associated with construction of roads and bridges has shot up keeping in view the election scheduled for November.
In the past too politicians exerted influence on the government to implement projects that are considered instrumental for winning the hearts of potential voters.
The MoPIT has been forwarding such proposals to the National Planning Commission (NPC), the apex development policy making body of the government.
"Contrary to our policy of minimizing the number of politically motivated and least significant local and regional level projects, dozens of requests to incorporate such projects in the upcoming budget are being tabled," MoPIT Secretary Tulasi Prasad Situala told Republica on Saturday, confirming that the number of such projects has shot up to around 30,000 this year, up from around 22,000 last year.
As per the existing system, local level projects should be designed and finalized by concerned district development committees (DDCs). "But influential local people and politicians are flocking the ministry to lobby for endorsement of their proposals," Sitaula further said. Sources said such people have also started knocking on the doors of the Ministry of Finance and the NPC.
According to Situala, almost all projects tabled by these influential people are related to construction of roads and bridges. If these projects were to be implemented, the government needs to fork out at least Rs 100 billion, Situala informed. "We can hardly accommodate 400 projects out of the total demanded this year," he added.
The government is not interested in undertaking these projects, as construction of such roads and bridges have either failed to bring desired results in the past or were not significant to locals.
"We should not add more of such roads that are designed and implemented without keeping in view their significance at the local level," said Sitaula.
Amid limited resources and increasing number of local and regional projects, the government´s budget for such projects has declined drastically over the last few years.
"Budget allocation for regional roads has dropped to an average Rs 3.8 million from around Rs 20 million few years ago, as the government has resorted to piecemeal allocation to deal with budget crunch," Sitaula said, adding, "Making attempts to implement such projects with meager budget is equivalent to squandering the money from national coffers."
The government is currently building around 200 regional roads, around 100 tourism roads and around 400 bridges.
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