March 3: As the government is preparing for the budget of the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2079/80), various ministries and related bodies are lobbying to get more budget. 

A source at the Ministry of Finance said that various bodies are taking initiative to get more budget than the budget allocated in the current fiscal year. At present, the Ministry of Urban Development and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology are making intense efforts to get more budget. These ministries are lobbying for more budget than their current budget. According to the Ministry of Urban Development, it will require more budget for the upcoming fiscal year than the ceiling fixed by the National Planning Commission. 

The ministry is lobbying to increase the budget as it is preparing to announce a budget focusing on big projects. At present, the Ministry of Urban Development is running most of the small projects. But the ministry plans to increase the number of big projects soon. Till now, programs worth at least Rs 4.5 million are being implemented under the ministry. Now, the ministry is preparing to operate projects worth at least Rs 50 million. The ministry is preparing to table a proposal seeking Rs 200 million for large projects in the next fiscal year. 

Despite the high demand for developing integrated settlement, the ministry is not in favor of encouraging such plans. A study by the Ministry of Urban Development found that about 60 percent of the houses were locked during the monitoring of three such integrated settlements. 

As per the mid-term expenditure structure, the National Planning Commission has capped a budget ceiling of Rs 36.68 billion for the ministry in the upcoming fiscal year. However, the ministry is preparing to propose a budget that is double the ceiling fixed by the commission. The ministry is preparing to propose a budget which includes programs worth Rs 73 billion.

Officials claim that the ministry has the capacity to spend if the proposed budget is released. Despite such tall claims, the ministry has not been able to spend the budget allocated in the current fiscal year. In the current fiscal, the budget allocated for the Ministry is Rs 30.75 billion. However, it has spent only Rs 5.75 billion in the last six months. This is 18.72 percent of the total budget. 

Similarly, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology is also lobbying for more budget than the budget allocated to it at present. Education Minister Devendra Poudel has already met the vice chairman of the NPC Dr Bishwanath Poudel and asked him to increase the budget for education. 

In the current fiscal year, more than Rs 58.26 billion was allocated for the education ministry. In the mid-term assessment of the current fiscal year’s budget, the Ministry had spent a total of Rs 20.47 billion which is 35.14 percent of the allocated budget.