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Kathmandu: Government figures on funding for recent elections and the upcoming House of Representatives poll show that elections in Nepal are becoming more expensive due to rising prices. A large portion of the total election budget continues to go to security agencies.

As there was no prior budget allocation for this election, the government has arranged funds through internal adjustments and budget transfers. Although no separate budget was set aside for the House election, the Ministry of Finance has approved spending of around Rs 19.1 billion. This is nearly six percent higher than the previous election.

For the House and provincial elections held in fiscal year 2079 80, a budget of Rs 18.05 billion was approved. Only 91.37 percent of that amount, or Rs 16.49 billion, was spent. The remaining Rs 1.55 billion was returned to the Finance Ministry. The Election Commission returned the largest share, followed by the Home Ministry, while the Defence Ministry spent its entire allocation.

Earlier, local elections in fiscal year 2078 79 were allocated Rs 13.31 billion, of which Rs 12.08 billion was used. About nine percent of the budget was returned.

For the current House election in fiscal year 2082 83, the Finance Ministry has approved spending for three bodies: The Election Commission, the Home Ministry, and the Defence Ministry. The Home Ministry has received the biggest share, with approval to spend Rs 10.39 billion, more than 54 percent of the total election budget. This marks a 19.5 percent rise from the last general election.

The Defence Ministry’s budget has more than doubled to Rs 1.99 billion. In contrast, the Election Commission’s allocation has dropped by about 19.5 percent to Rs 6.72 billion, down from Rs 8.35 billion previously.

Officials say higher prices and growing security needs have pushed costs up. Finance Ministry spokesperson Tankaprasad Pandey said prices have risen by 10 to 20 percent since the last election, adding pressure on spending.

Most of the Home Ministry budget will go toward deploying Nepal Police, election police, and district administration offices. Around 135,000 election police are proposed nationwide, with funds also covering security coordination, ballot transport, and monitoring.

People’s News Monitoring Service