Prime Minister Holds Consultations with Gandaki Province Lawmakers on Regional Development

Pokhara. A discussion was held between Prime Minister Balendra Shah (Balen) and the directly elected members of the House of Representatives from Gandaki Province. The three-hour meeting at the Prime Minister's residence in Baluwatar focused on regional development agendas.

During the meeting, lawmakers from all constituencies briefed the Prime Minister on the expectations of citizens they encountered during their election campaigns. Rajan Gautam, MP for Nawalpur 1 and RSP Gandaki Chairman, stated that discussions primarily covered local constituency issues, delays in development projects, and policy hurdles. Most lawmakers expressed their views on tourism development and the monkey menace affecting farmers.

Farmers in many districts of Gandaki Province have been suffering from monkey-related problems. Lawmakers demanded that the Prime Minister introduce a concrete plan for monkey control.

'Honorable members from Parbat, Baglung, and Syangja drew the Prime Minister's attention to controlling the monkey menace. From Nawalpur, we highlighted the need for policy initiatives for the full development of the district as a separate entity,' he said. 'A consensus was reached that infrastructure and tourism are essential for the province's development.'

However, he noted that the cooperative crisis in Pokhara was not raised during the discussion with the Prime Minister. 'The ministry has already started working on the cooperative issue. This topic did not enter the discussion,' he said. 'Our focus was more on the development of our constituencies.' Gautam mentioned that the delay in the expansion of the East-West Highway and the issue of the Narayani River embankment were prominently raised with the Prime Minister. The cooperative crisis in Pokhara and Gandaki Province is complex, with reports of approximately 9 billion rupees being embezzled. There is no guarantee for the return of funds in most cooperatives.

The discussion also touched upon problems with the contract system in development projects and the complexities created by the Public Procurement Act.

Lawmakers complained about the public suffering due to projects not being completed on time and technical difficulties. After listening to the demands and suggestions of the lawmakers, the Prime Minister pledged to prioritize and address all issues.

'The Prime Minister has said that he will prepare a clear roadmap of which tasks can be done immediately and which need to be addressed in the long term,' says Gautam. 'The Prime Minister's secretariat has already started working on this.'

Lawmakers from all 18 constituencies participated in the discussion. In Gandaki, the Rastriya Swatantra Party won 15 seats, the Nepali Congress won 2 seats, and an independent candidate won 1 seat. Proportional representation MPs did not participate in this discussion. There are 5 proportional representation MPs from various parties from Gandaki. It is said that the Prime Minister will hold a separate discussion with them.