“Budges issues are not discussed in our party. Only the people from economic background participate in the budget-making process,” Gagan Thapa, central member of Nepali Congress, said, speaking at a discussion on ´Budget Analysis Group (BAG) for Accountable and Democratic Governance in Nepal´.
Former Constituent Assembly (CA) member Hari Roka said, “Budget-makers should bring voices from the local level after holding discussion with them in groups.
” He also urged the necessity to demystify the budget so that commoners can understand it. [break]
The event was organized by Nepal South Asia Centre which works in the field of democracy and development. It has been organizing pre and post budget discussions for the past few years.
“Budget is a tool to implement government policy and programs,” Rabindra Adhikari, a leader of CPN-UML, said.
Speaking on the occasion, the young leader urged the need to form an independent entity for discussions before finalizing the government´s fiscal document.
“We have found that budget allocations do not align with the national planning. Allocations have been made without any serious thinking,” added Adhikari. “We have come to know that people involved in development projects often mobilize some middlemen to lobby for finance distribution on their part.”
Civil society member Briendra Prasad Mishra said an independent entity having linkage to the finance ministry and National Planning Commission to hold discussions before finalizing the budget.
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