Koshi Province Government Enters Plans into PLMBIS for Budget Creation

Biratnagar. The Koshi Province government is actively entering plans into the Provincial Ministry-wise Budget Information System (PLMBIS) for budget creation. Indra Mani Parajuli, the Minister for Internal Affairs and Law and also the spokesperson for the Koshi Province government, stated that his ministry is also adding plans to the PLMBIS.

However, previously, the Chief Minister of the province, Hikmat Kumar Karki, had stated that the plans to be included in the budget would be entered into the system by May 15. 'Preparations are underway to complete the budget entry by May 15 as well. This time, it feels like we shouldn't be the ones who have to do everything with a lot of headaches,' he had said during a program with the members of the Provincial Planning Commission on April 18. Nevertheless, as the plan entry work has not stopped, the past tradition of the Ministry of Economic Affairs facing pressure at the last moment appears to be repeating.

According to the work procedures for project classification, determination of basis and criteria, and project bank management, the work of entering plans into the project bank has been completed. In this, 72,992 new plans have been entered into the province's project bank.

Out of these, the Provincial Planning Commission has selected 27,300 plans that can be entered into the budget system. Various ministries are currently actively selecting from these 27,300 plans based on their needs and entering them into the budget system.

This process has now reached its final stage and will be completed within a few days, according to government spokesperson Indra Mani Parajuli. After the ministries enter the plans into the system, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Planning conducts the final verification and monitoring to determine if the plans have been selected from the project bank.

For this, instead of manual checking, a 'filter' system has been placed in the software, according to Tara Niroula, Vice-Chairman of the Provincial Planning Commission, which makes it easy to identify plans that have come through unofficial channels outside the project bank. However, the project bank and PLMBIS are not yet fully integrated with each other. Niroula stated that direct entry has not been possible due to the pending process of obtaining necessary permission or coordination from the Office of the Auditor General. Nevertheless, the filter system within the project bank makes it easy to distinguish which plan is official, Niroula said.

Officials from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, however, say that even though it was said that plans would be entered into the budget system by May 15, the delay could cause problems at the last moment. 'If the ministries themselves enter the plans until the last moment, we will not be in a position to distinguish whether the actual plans have been included or not,' the official said, adding, 'We are urging them to finish quickly.'

The Koshi Province government has a legal provision that plans can only be included in the budget through the project bank, to end the practice of including plans from one's own pocket based on access and influence in the past. The provincial government has also mentioned the implementation of this provision in the policy and program and the principles and priorities of the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

Point number 11 of the government's policy and program states, 'The project bank system will be made effective to make the identification, classification, selection, and prioritization of projects at the provincial and local levels realistic and scientific. A policy will be adopted to encourage local levels based on their contribution to achieving the economic and social development goals of the provincial government.'

Similarly, point number 12 of the government's principles and priorities states, 'Projects and programs that have completed detailed feasibility studies and preliminary preparations and have been entered into the project bank will be implemented gradually based on need and priority.

While allocating the budget, sectoral priorities of projects and programs will be considered, frugality will be maintained in current expenditure, and distribution-oriented programs will be discouraged.'