Govt revives controversial Parliamentary Development Fund

#Budget2023/24

Govt revives controversial Parliamentary Development Fund

Published On: May 29, 2023 07:56 PM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

KATHMANDU, May 29: The government has revived the controversial parliamentary development fund, which was discontinued by the then CPN-UML-led government amid concerns of the gross misuse of the fund.

The then Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel had removed the budget given in the name of Parliamentary Development Fund from the budget of the Fiscal Year 2022/23

Presenting the budget for the FY 2023/24, Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat informed that the Parliamentary Development Fund has been revived with a provision to provide Rs 50 million to each 240 constituencies under the 'Parliamentary Infrastructure Development Program'.

The concept of 'Infrastructure Development Fund' was started when Sushil Koirala was the Prime Minister. The fund was later renamed 'Parliamentary Development Fund' and 'Local Infrastructure Development Partnership Program'.

Under this program, the budget was allocated at the rate of Rs 60 million to each lawmaker of the House of Representatives (HoR) elected under the First Past the Post (FPTP) electoral system. But there is a growing concern that the budget was distributed among party workers in the name of development and grossly misused.