Karnali Province Budget Construction Underway, Thousands of Projects Recommended

Surkhet. The work of constructing the budget for the upcoming financial year (2083/084) in Karnali is in full swing. To make the upcoming budget systematic and result-oriented, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Planning is holding discussions with various bodies, and the Provincial Planning Commission is also conducting various programs to systematize projects.

The Ministry of Finance has already distributed the ceiling for the upcoming budget, increasing the budget size by 1% compared to the current financial year, by the last week of Baisakh. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Planning has stated that the budget ceiling has been distributed for a budget of around 33-34 billion for the upcoming year.

For a budget of this size, thousands of projects have been recommended. The Karnali government has formulated the 'Project Proposal and Selection Procedure Regulations' for project selection. According to these regulations, approximately 17,000 projects, both small and large, have been recommended from all 10 districts for the upcoming budget.

According to the regulations, the provincial government has set a limit of 5 million for road infrastructure projects and 2 million for others. Small irrigation projects have been kept out of this limit.

According to the data provided by the Provincial Planning Commission to Ratopati, there are 12,746 projects recommended from the districts with a budget of less than 5 million for the upcoming budget. The Provincial Planning Commission refers to such projects as 'Roster Projects'.

Similarly, there are 3,445 projects from the districts with a budget of more than 5 million, which have been verified in the project bank.

The provincial government has adopted a policy of making it mandatory to enter projects costing more than 5 million rupees into the project bank system.

Accordingly, Provincial Planning Commission Vice-Chairman Suryanath Yogi said that these projects selected from the districts have been verified by the project bank.

Looking at it ministry-wise, the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers' Office has 52 roster projects recommended from the districts, and 4 large projects verified in the project bank.

The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Urban Development has 444 projects with a budget limit of less than 5 million and 1,618 projects above that. Similarly, the Social Development Ministry has 1,280 small and 740 large projects.

The Ministry of Industry, Tourism, Forest and Environment has the highest number of small projects, 6,297, and 87 large projects, while the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources Development has 3,423 small and 988 large projects recommended from the districts.

Similarly, the Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives has 1,250 small and 8 large projects. The Planning Commission has mentioned 3,550 projects under the heading of projects included in the project bank.

How many district-level projects are above 5 million?

Surkhet has the highest number of projects requiring a budget allocation of more than 5 million, with 902 projects. Similarly, Dailekh has 573, Rukum Paschim has 508, Salyan has 344, Mugu has 277, and Kalikot has 183 projects selected and entered into the project bank.

There are 115 such projects from Jumla, 106 from Jajarkot, 230 from Humla, and 207 from Dolpa selected. Among these, 427 road infrastructure-related projects costing more than 5 million have been selected from Surkhet district.

How is project prioritization done?

The respective ministries themselves prioritize small projects. Budget allocation is done accordingly. The Planning Commission prioritizes projects that need to be entered into the project bank with a budget of more than 5 million, said Commission member Ashoknath Yogi.

'The prioritization of small projects is likely underway in the ministries, while the commission has already done it for large ones,' he told Ratopati. 'After prioritization and finalization, the budget will be allocated.'

Projects entered into the project bank do not necessarily have to be implemented in the same financial year. Projects can be selected and implemented based on need within 5 financial years.

Ministries are deserted as projects are recommended from the districts

According to the regulations formulated by the government, the provincial ministries are deserted even during budget construction as projects are recommended from the districts.

Karnali government spokesperson Vinod Kumar Shah says that in the past, ministries used to be crowded with people seeking projects during this time, but that has now stopped.

According to him, when people came to the ministry to request projects, only those with influence would get their projects, leading to increased irregularities. As he said, in the previous term, incidents of people taking money from the public in the name of getting projects for MPs' personal staff, ministers' personal staff, and party cadres were common.

Therefore, spokesperson Shah says that the project selection procedure has been created to make the province's development process more transparent, effective, and accountable.

The procedure envisages a multi-level and inclusive mechanism for project selection. These include district-level, thematic ministry-level, and provincial planning commission-level committees.

Initially, there is a district-level project proposal selection and recommendation committee, chaired by the senior member of the Provincial Assembly elected through direct election. Other provincial assembly members, the chief and deputy chief of the District Coordination Committee, the chief and deputy chief of local levels, and the chief and secretary of the relevant thematic office/directorate will be members. This committee discusses, interacts with, and analyzes the projects submitted by the district-level offices, ensuring sectoral and geographical balance and avoiding duplication, and recommends suitable projects to the thematic ministry.

Upon receiving the details of projects entered into the project bank system by the district-level offices, the thematic ministry will correct any errors within 7 days and then analyze, verify, and approve them.

Ministries assist their subordinate district-level offices in project proposal, preliminary testing, capacity building, and budget management. Furthermore, the ministry is also authorized to set a limit for projects up to three times the average budget amount of projects implemented in the last three financial years by the district-level project implementation office.

There is a preliminary project selection and recommendation committee. This committee, chaired by the provincial secretary under the guidance of the departmental minister, includes the heads of planning and monitoring, economic administration, and procurement sections as members, and the head of the planning and monitoring section as member-secretary.

This committee will recommend projects entered into the project bank and identified by the ministry for approval and certification to the commission based on the available budget limit and institutional capacity. The committee is required to prepare a report maintaining geographical, district-wise, and local-level balance, get it approved by the departmental minister, and keep it on record.

Thus, the ministries are deserted as projects are recommended from the districts.