Tourism ministry forwards 17 new programs at FY end

NEPALGUNJ, July 10: Even though the existing rule requires the government to freeze the unspent development budget at the end of a fiscal year, Ministry of Tourism has forwarded 17 new development programs to the tourism office of Nepalgunj with just one month remaining before the closing of the fiscal year.



The programs aimed at developing tourism infrastructures in the Mid- and Far-western Development Regions was sent to the Nepalgunj-based tourism office last Thursday. The last hour instruction from the ministry to implement the programs has left the local government agencies baffled.[break]



“The sudden decision of the ministry has surprised us. The programs for the development of local tourism have been designed and forwarded without holding any consultations with local stakeholders,” said a tourism official. He told Republica that the office was informed about the programs through a facsimile notice.



Bharat Mall, the chief of the Nepalgunj Tourism Office, said that he received the details of the programs, most of which are to be implemented in Jajarkot and Dailekh districts, on June 30.



The ministry´s programs include four projects including construction of a park and conservation of tourism sites in Jajarkot. Likewise, four programs in Dailekh cover conservation of tourism sites and study and development of potential tourism sites.



The ministry has also forwarded programs for Banke, Bardiya, Achham, Dang, Rukum, Rolpa, Mugu, Bajhang and Bajura districts.



“Most of the programs need to be implemented through local user groups. It will take at least three months to select the groups and handover the programs to them,” said the official, outlining the confusion regarding the implementation.



Had we received such programs at the beginning of the fiscal year, all of us, including the local communities, would have definitely felt delighted, said officials. “Sadly, the ministry sent us the programs only at the last hour when there are little chances of them being implemented,” he added.



The ministry has said it has allocated Rs 6.6 million for implementing those programs. Earlier, the tourism office in Nepalgunj had received Rs 10.6 million for the conservation and development of potential tourism destinations.



Meanwhile, the program to develop a water park in Nepalgunj has hit a snag due to disputes among the implementing user groups and the Rs 2 million allocated for the project is likely to frozen as a result of the fallout.



Mid- and Far-western Development Regions have huge tourism potential that has so far remained untapped due to poor tourism related infrastructures.

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