Karnali Province Minister's Performance Scrutinized Amid Slow Budget Execution and Policy Delays

Surkhet. An assessment has concluded that the performance of Minister for Land Management, Agriculture, and Cooperatives, Binod Kumar Shah, who also serves as the spokesperson for the Karnali government, has been weak.

During the mid-year review meeting held on Thursday, it was noted that Shah's failure to demonstrate the required urgency in his performance has led to delays in implementing necessary projects and spending the allocated budget. The ministry led by Shah has only executed 3.54 percent of its total budget so far. While expenditure under recurrent costs stands at 11.34 percent, the overall budget execution is reported at 9.4 percent. This ministry has an annual capital budget of NPR 64 crore 16 lakh 29 thousand, with a total budget of NPR 2 billion 57 crore.

Chief Minister Yamalal Kandel himself is dissatisfied with the performance of the ministers. In this ministry, essential working procedures, policies, and draft bills are not being prepared on time. There is also significant delay in drafting regulations and bills. It was stipulated that regulations and working procedures should be finalized by the first trimester to facilitate budget and project implementation. However, drafts for 4 regulations and bills have not even moved past the preparation stage yet.

This year, the ministry is required to formulate the Apple Development Board Bill-2082, Organic Agriculture Regulation-2082, Seed Regulation-2082, and Pesticide Regulation-2082. Delays in these areas have neither improved budget expenditure nor led to the implementation of programs. Minister for Agriculture Binod Kumar Shah himself admitted dissatisfaction with his performance, acknowledging that the ministry's progress is weaker compared to the previous year.

'Sectoral activities are not progressing as expected,' he stated, 'I am seriously dissatisfied with this as well.'

He noted that even after projects were handed over, related documentation was held up, ministry work was slow, and there were shortcomings in implementing decisions. 'Although a decision was made to finalize the drafts for the Apple Development Board Bill, Pesticide Regulation, Organic Agriculture Regulation, and Seed Regulation by Mangsir 15, the work is still not complete,' he said, targeting the staff, 'This is a serious matter.' Shah mentioned that letters sent from the Administration Division are taking as long as two months to reach their destination.

'Looking at all the reports, there is no room for satisfaction,' he remarked, 'The budget that should have been spent in the first trimester has not even entered the procurement process yet. This is a worrying issue.' Shah became visibly frustrated with the staff, questioning if he now has to personally follow up on the ministry's work.

Minister Shah himself raised serious questions regarding the role of the bureaucracy. 'You must immediately submit the drafts of acts and regulations for discussion,' he added, 'Improve the overall working style and deliver results-oriented work.'

Chief Minister Directs for Increased Pace

During the review meeting, Chief Minister Yamalal Kandel instructed ministers and staff to accelerate overall performance. Kandel emphasized that this ministry handles key areas directly linked to the public and those capable of operating small and group industries, urging focus in those sectors.

He stated that problems will not be resolved unless the perception towards government structures and public institutions changes, stressing that both employees and political leadership must deliver results. Kandel pointed out a tendency where the regulatory body is separate from the entity creating confusion in implementation, and urged a reduction in traditional programs in favor of more research-based and innovative ones.

Targeting the employees, he said, 'The situation where political leadership is blamed when employees fail in examinations must change; the tendency for bodies established to institutionalize rules to create legal complications must end.' Furthermore, Chief Minister Kandel mentioned that due to sufficient laws and old provisions regarding interest subsidies, work done through consumer committees and interest subsidies must be understood separately.

Kandel suggested to Minister Shah that while services are obtained through Kisan Agrovets, many are illegal, and therefore, all should be legalized through training and certification, and the syndicate seen in training must be broken.

Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning, Rajeev Vikram Shah, stated that although the interest subsidy program was introduced for positive transformation, some implementation issues have emerged.