HoR starts deliberations on principles, priorities of Appropriation Bill

Deliberation on the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill for the next fiscal year, 2023/24 presented by the government has begun in the federal parliament.

Lawmakers are today putting their view on the proposal to allow a deliberation on the principles and priorities of the bill (except taxes) put forward by Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat in the first meeting of the monsoon session of the federal parliament on Sunday.

The deliberation will run for three days. On the occasion, former Finance Ministers Gyanendra Bahadur Karki and Bishnu Prasad Paudel put their views on the existing situation of the country's economy, possible challenges and next strategies.

They stressed the need for prioritising the programmes that would create job opportunities and contribute to sustainable economic development by taking the economy on the road to improvement.

Karki, also Nepali Congress lawmaker, suggested that the next budget should mainly focus on production and employment. "We do not have the luxury of making the budget excitedly due to a shrinkage of income sources. In this present situation, a realistic budget is in need, but not a popular one," he said.

He welcomed and supported Minister Dr Mahat for his commitments to get economic growth, increments in job opportunities and development of a sustainable economy through the principles and priorities of the Bill.

Similarly, Paudel, also the CPN (UML) lawmaker, suggested that the budget prioritises the goals of taking the country on the path to economic prosperity while cutting through possible challenges of the economy.

He also warned of possible economic recession in case of failure to take effective initiatives to improve negative indicators of the country's economy. The budget should also accommodate the things keeping in view of the current economic challenges, he said.

Zero Hour: Lawmakers call for thorough probe into fake Bhutanese refugee scam

Meanwhile, lawmakers speaking in the Zero Hour in the meeting of the House of Representatives today demanded a thorough and serious investigation of the fake Bhutanese refugee scandal.

Arjun Narsingh KC said the scandal has made the nation ashamed of and called for bringing to book all the people implicated in the scandal. He also demanded formation of a high-level investigation committee headed by a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to look into this issue.

Asim Shah also echoed KC and demanded a serious probe of the scandal while Chitra Bahadur KC urged the parliament to take this scandal with due seriousness as people occupying high posts are implicated in this. KC warned against deflecting the issue as has been the tradition on big scandals and corruption cases before this.

Similarly, lawmakers Achyut Prasad Mainali, Anjani Shrestha, Anita Devi, Anisha Nepali, Ashma Kumari Chaudhary, Amrit Lal Rajbanshi, Ammar Bahadur Rayamajhi, Ishwori Gharti, Rishikesh Pokharel, Ain Bahadur Shahi, Ganesh Parajuli, Ganga Karki and Chanda Karki Bhandari called attention of the government on a host of burning issues related to the public life, the country's economy and several development infrastructure related challenges.

(CB Adhikari)