Kathmandu, June 8: Victims of different natural calamities have lost their houses. For many years, they have been spending nights under the open sky, The government is unable to manage funds for their resettlements.

The government is facing a financial crunch as it has not been able to increase revenue in accordance with the expenditure and every year, it is taking debts. The gap between income and expenditure is so wide that more money has to be spent on paying interest and principal on loans than on the budget allocated for development. The government, which has allocated four hundred and seven billion eight hundred and ninety million for capital expenditure, has set aside four hundred and eleven billion for loan principal and interest payments.

The more tragic thing is that the roads washed away by last year's landslides are still the same. The government has not been able to construct the BP Highway and other roads due to a lack of funds. Although the Japanese government has promised to build one section, the contract has been awarded.

Even if the river is diverted in winter, the road will be blocked in the monsoon. Even after five years of starting the expansion of the East-West Highway, the work is still incomplete, which is why the Narayangadh-Daunne section is in a mess. The government needs to invest in building houses for the citizens. Millions of citizens have been left homeless by last year's flood and the earthquakes in western Nepal before that. But the government doesn't care.

When Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel presented the budget on May 29, he mentioned that there are no plans smaller than three crores. However, there are plans worth lakhs, just like scattering grains. More surprising is that a budget of three crores has been allocated through the Ministry of Urban Development for the construction of the building of the Nepali Tarun Dal, the youth wing of the Nepali Congress.

The allocation of 30 million rupees from the government's treasury for the construction of a building for the sister organization while the leader of one's own party is a minister has come to light. It is being criticized on social media. The budget has been allocated under the title 'Construction of Ganeshman Singh Memorial Building' for the Nepal Tarun Dal in Ravi Bhawan, Kathmandu Metropolitan City 13. This was made public by the president of the Tarun Dal, Bidwan Gurung.

Gurung has extended thanks to Party president Sher Bahadur Deuba and Minister Prakashman Singh for allotting funds to construct the building.

The government will have to reconstruct/reinforce at least 115,558 private houses for those affected by the earthquake and landslides. Although it was said that four hundred thousand would be given for the reconstruction of private houses, they have not received it. Since the monsoon of 2021, 19,771 houses have been destroyed in just 20 districts.

According to the Disaster Management Authority, the cost of constructing 120,732 structures, including private housing and infrastructure, is estimated to be 101.12 billion. According to the preliminary assessment prepared by the authority, the goal is to complete the reconstruction by allocating 30 percent of the funds in the fiscal year 2081-82, 40 percent in the following fiscal year 2082-83, and 30 percent in 2083-84.

People’s News Monitoring Service.