UML Deputy Leader Padma Aryal Criticizes Budget for Neglecting the Poor

Kathmandu. Opposition party CPN (UML) Parliamentary Party Deputy Leader Padma Aryal has commented that the government's budget for the upcoming fiscal year has failed to reach the poor. She made this comment on Thursday while participating in the general discussion on the budget in the House of Representatives meeting.

She stated that the budget lacks concrete programs to uplift the underprivileged, ensure their hearths are always warm, and bring smiles to their faces. Deputy Leader Aryal also objected to the government's budget, stating that it has adopted a policy of making the poor poorer and the rich richer.

Questioning the priorities and goals of the budget, she said in the parliament, 'The budget did not touch poverty. The word poverty is not adequately addressed in the entire budget speech. The government says – it will develop the middle class. There is nothing to say about this. But how can its goal be achieved? My question is – without uplifting the lower class citizens living below the poverty line of twenty percent, how can the size of the upper class increase? How scientific is it to add floors without keeping the foundation weak? This budget appears to have adopted a policy of keeping the lower class down and taking the upper class further up. Therefore, this is a budget that will further widen the class gap between the haves and the have-nots. The size of the middle class does not widen by itself. For this, the income of the lower level must increase. They must have skills in their hands. They must have a fair price in the market. The budget lacks concrete programs to uplift the underprivileged, ensure their hearths are always warm, and bring smiles to their faces.'

Aryal reminded that to fulfill the government's declared goal of developing the middle class, the budget must necessarily focus on the upliftment of the poor class. She stated that the economic development of the country is not possible without improving the economic condition of the lower class.