Karnali Province Government Allocates NPR 5.54 Billion in Grants to Local Levels

Surkhet. The Karnali Province Government has transferred grants to the local levels within the province for the upcoming fiscal year (2083/084). The provincial government provides grant budgets under four headings: equalization, conditional, special, and complementary grants.

According to the Ministry of Finance's 'Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfer' report, NPR 5.54 billion 72 lakh 80 thousand has been sent to the local levels for the upcoming year, of which the provincial capital, Surkhet district, has received the largest share.

According to the statistics, Surkhet has received NPR 1.07 billion 87 lakh 69 thousand in grants. Similarly, Dailekh has received NPR 67 crore 59 lakh 17 thousand, and Humla has received NPR 59 crore 13 lakh 61 thousand.

Jajarkot has been given NPR 58 crore 71 lakh 24 thousand, Salyan NPR 55 crore 93 lakh 46 thousand, Kalikot NPR 53 crore 76 lakh 64 thousand, and Dolpa NPR 42 crore 38 lakh 30 thousand, and Jumla NPR 42 crore 12 lakh 43 thousand in grants.

Likewise, Rukum West has received NPR 38 crore 18 lakh 26 thousand, and Mugu, which received the least, has received only NPR 29 crore 2 lakh.

While Surkhet, the home district of Karnali's Chief Minister Yamlal Kandel, received the most grants, Dailekh, the home district of the government's spokesperson, Minister of Agriculture Binod Kumar Shah, and Minister of Social Development Ghanshyam Bhandari, received the second highest grant amount. Minister of Industry, Tourism, Suresh Adhikari is from Salyan, and Dolpa is the home district of the Minister of Infrastructure.

Among the Himalayan districts, Humla has received the third highest grant. Jeevan Bahadur Shahi, the leader of the ruling party Congress Parliamentary Party, and Minister of Water Resources and Energy, Bijaya Budha, are also from Humla. While Finance Minister Shah distributed a large grant budget to the home district of his party leader Shahi, Mugu, which did not get a place in the cabinet this time, received the least grant.

Finance Minister Rajiv Bikram Shah's home district Jajarkot is the fourth district in Karnali to receive a larger grant.

Himalayan districts are all weak in terms of development and geography, but grants were distributed based on access. Among the four headings for the upcoming year, NPR 1 billion for financial equalization grants, NPR 2.89 billion 1 lakh 80 thousand for conditional grants, NPR 47 crore 50 lakh for special grants, and NPR 1.18 billion 21 lakh for complementary grants have been given to the local levels.

Although the provincial government provides budgets based on the needs, geography, and performance of the local levels, this time it has been distributed based on access. A Member of Parliament from the ruling party itself alleged that this time's budget was made entirely minister-centric.