KATHMANDU: Gagan Thapa, General Secretary of the Nepali Congress (NC), has proposed redirecting the allocated 8.25 billion rupees from the ‘Constituency Development Fund ‘ (CDF) to support post-earthquake reconstruction.
Following a meeting with Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, Thapa suggested transferring the funds from CDF to the Reconstruction Fund.
Taking to social media on Sunday, General Secretary Thapa shared that he urged the Prime Minister to curtail unnecessary government spending and focus on the earthquake-affected regions.
“We have requested the Prime Minister to take immediate action on two fronts. Firstly, to halt wasteful government expenditure and prioritize areas affected by the earthquake, demonstrating the government’s commitment,” he tweeted. “Secondly, let’s allocate the approximately Rs.8.25 billion designated for lawmakers under CDF to aid in post-earthquake reconstruction.”
The Supreme Court had issued an interim order, delaying the immediate implementation of the CDF program outlined in the government’s budget. Each parliamentary constituency was allotted 50 million rupees through this initiative.
Thapa argued that, after efficiently utilizing such budgets, the government could then consider seeking assistance from other sources. Following their return from Jajarkot, Thapa and fellow General Secretary Bishwa Prakash Sharma met with Prime Minister Dahal to present their suggestions.
The earthquake on November 3 resulted in the complete destruction of over 26,000 houses.
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