Kathmandu. Similarly, Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Physical Infrastructure and Transport and Urban Development Kulman Ghising said that the government budget was stopped in the first three months of the current fiscal year due to low development expenditure.

Speaking at a meeting of the National Assembly’s Public Policy and Delegated Legislation Committee today, Minister Ghising said that most of the activities of the three ministries alone have been affected due to the blockage of the budget. According to him, around Rs 61 billion budget has been withheld in the Ministry of Urban Development alone. He said that the progress seen in the first quarter should be taken positively in the event of budget freeze.

“If we reduce the stalled budget, the progress percentage will be more than 20 percent. The current low expenditure is not the real weakness, but the effect of the stalled budget,” said Ghising. On top of that, due to the Genji movement, it was difficult to move forward on many projects. ’

Minister Ghising said that the second major obstacle after the budget was the Jenji agitation and the stoppage of work at various project sites. Similarly, he said that strict action has been taken against the contractors not working properly. He informed the Committee that 49 contracts have been officially scrapped so far while 269 projects were scrapped.

Minister Ghising admitted that some plans were kept in a haphazard manner and said that he was ready to cut such budgets. He said that such budget should be cut and necessary bridges and life-saving infrastructures in Jumla and Humla should be unleashed.

“We are in constant discussion with the Finance Ministry and the Prime Minister about this,” he said. He added that the design and construction process of the structures for the reconstruction has been moving ahead in a speedy manner. Energy, irrigation, road and urban development projects as well as some short-term projects would move ahead in a speedy manner.