MuAN unhappy with resumption of “constituency area development programme”

The Municipal Association of Nepal (MuAN) has expressed reservation over the government’s decision to resume the “constituency area development programme” providing funds to the Members of Parliament (MPs) for the development works in their constituencies.

The MuAN has alleged that the decision is against the sprit of decentralization and urged the government to channel the money through the local level.

Talking to Nepalnews, Bidur Mainali, chair of MuAN said, as the lawmakers have the duty of forming policies, they should not run to their constituencies by carrying development funds.

He added that the government should provide money for the development of the local level through local bodies for proportional development.

He expressed suspicion that the lawmakers might be partial and may not provide fund for particular areas where they did not receive more votes during the elections.

He further said that they had protested the decision of the government from the very beginning as it is against the sprit of proportional development of the local level and also protested the decision of the democratic government formed following the reinstatement of the parliament to give continuity to the programme of providing money to the lawmakers.

“As the local bodies are more aware of the ground realities than the parliamentarians, the government should stop the tendency of providing development budget to the parliamentarians,” Mainali added.

In the budget of the fiscal year 2006/07, Finance Minister Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat said the previous government had postponed the constituency area development program following the dissolution of the House of Representatives. After the restoration of the House of Representatives, elected people’s representatives should reach the people of their constituency areas in order to address their burning issues; hence, the constituency area development program initiated in the past has been revived, Mahat said.

Joint Secretary at the Budget and Programme Division of Ministry of Finance, Krishna Hari Baskota, informed Nepalnews that the government has allocated Rs. 250,000,000 for this programme.

He however said that the parliament will decide whether the money is equally distributed to all lawmakers and whether it is distributed to the members of both the Upper and Lower House or the Lower House only.

He added that the parliament will decide the modalities for distributing and spending the fund.

The National Assembly, comprising 65 members, is not functioning even after the reinstatement of the House of Representatives.

As the Maoists have been demanding immediate dissolution of the incumbent parliament before the election of the constituent assembly, it is not clear how the lawmakers be able to spend the amount for the development of their constituency. nepalnews.com pb July 17 06