February 16: It has been three years since the formation of KP Sharma Oli-led government. The government claims to have achieved a lot during in this period. However, it has been a turbulent time for the government. Prime Minister Oli had to dissolve the House of Representatives and announce mid-term election due to the internal rift within the ruling party.
The government has been accused to protecting corrupt people.
The Nepal Communist Party (NCP) formed after the merger between the former UML and Maoists had announced to complete the Pokhara Regional Airport within three years. Although the construction of Pokhara airport has outpaced Bhairahawa airport, it is yet to be completed.
The government had also announced to complete the Nijgadh International Airport within five years. However, the construction of the airport is yet to pick up pace even three years after the announcement. The project has suffered a major setback due to the controversy regarding felling of trees in the area.
Before the election, PM Oli had made tall promise of operating Nepal’s own rail engine and ships. He had pledged to link Kathmandu with Kerung through railway while there were plans to establish monorail in the capital. China later moved the railway project under the BRI framework. However, PM Oli does not seem to be interested to implement the BRI project.
Despite very little achievements, PM Oli on Monday (February 15) announced that the three-year term of the government was successful. PM Oli also claimed that the country’s economic growth would hit 10 percent next year.
“Indicators in the first six months of the current fiscal year show that our economy has returned back to the path of high economic growth,” said PM Oli, adding, “Next year, there are high chances that the economic growth will be around 10 percent as projected by the 15th Plan.”
According to the report published by the government, its public expenditure has increased by 29 percent in the last three years. The size of the budget has increased by 186.64 percent. Similarly, the per capital income has increased by 23.6 percent to US$ 1097 from US$ 887. The government claimed that more than 900,000 people have been able to move out of absolute poverty line during this period.
The report further states that more than 6.8 million new bank accounts were opened during this period under the initiative of the government while the flow of loan to the private sector has increased by 72 percent. Likewise, insurance service has expanded by 8.7 percentage points to 22.7 percent, says the report. Similarly, the government has been able to save Rs 2.35 billion since the operation of petroleum pipeline from last year. All these have been included as major achievements of the government.
PM Oli also claimed major achievement in infrastructure development. “There was a time when only 10 kilometers of road used to be blacktopped in an entire year. Now, we have been blacktopping 5 kilometers of road on a daily basis,” said PM Oli.
He further claimed that the production of electricity increased by 333 megawatts during the last three years as the country has now been generating 1430 MW of electricity. Meanwhile, Oli said that the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project is 98.8 percent complete and will be producing an additional 456 MW electricity by next year.
Nepali Congress leader and former Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat said that the government’s three-year tenure was not satisfactory. He claimed that the government had been protecting convicts while professing good governance.
