Chairman of the Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives Bharat Kumar Sah has urged the local level to levy taxes only in a way that the people can pay.
Speaking at a discussion program on 'Management of Public Finance in Local Government' organized by the National Federation of Villages Nepal today, he said that even if the constitution gives most of the scope of tax collection to the central government, the local level can raise minimum and justifiable taxes.
Chairman Sah said that it would be difficult for the people's representative to pass the people's test in the upcoming election as there were complaints of expensive tax on chicken eggs and astrologers. "People's representatives should work with the feeling that they are the representatives of the people, not with the feeling that whatever we do," he said.
Stressing that the central and state governments should not make any law that would encroach on the delegated power at the local level, he urged the Auditor General's Office to pay special attention to the big business rather than small business.
CPN (UML) MP Ghanshyam Khatiwada urged for the implementation of transparent financial management system to end the one-time spending disorder in June. He urged the local government to work for the protection of natural resources free from the grant-oriented budget system.
Member of the Bagmati Provincial Assembly Ramesh Poudel demanded an end to the trend of selecting schemes based on power and access and scrapping the Parliamentary Development Fund.
Deputy Auditor General Padma Raj Poudel informed that new software is being prepared to address the problems of audit. At present, Rs. 41 billion is unaccounted for in the country. The local government balance is around five percent.
Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Finance Baburam Subedi urged to discourage the trend of unsanctioned spending.
Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration, Dr. Gopi Krishna Khanal, said that it was necessary to remove the complexities of the Public Procurement Act and improve the contract awarding process. Former president of the federation Krishna Prasad Sapkota said that imposing plans without standards would make it difficult for the local government to work.
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