KATHMANDU, Nov 9: With the change in government a few months ago, the parliamentary committee to probe budget leak has turned idle for three months.
The committee was formed in May with 105 days term after the then main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) obstructed parliament meeting demanding probe into the alleged leak of the annual budget figures. The NC had demanded probe into the leak, after the budget figures published by Republica matched those announced by the then finance minister Bishnu Paudel in parliament.
NC leader Ramesh Lekhek was coordinator of the probe committee and NC lawmaker Ramhari Khatiwada, CPN-UML lawmaker Rajan Bhattarai and CPN (Maoist Center) lawmaker Amanlal Modi were member.
But, after few months of formation of the committee, NC and Maoist registered no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister K P Oli and committee coordinator Lekhek appointed to Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport in the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led new government.
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“We had finalized the terms of reference of the committee from its first meeting, but we couldn't hold next rounds of meetings after the committee coordinator appointed to minister,” said Khatiwada. The probe committee had decided to hold meeting with former finance ministers, chief secretaries, finance secretaries and journalists for investigations on the budget leak case.
The committee was also instructed to submit suggestion for keeping the budget finalization process secret and precautions. “The committee has also responsibility of submitting suggestion for future budget safety cases. We expect the tenure of the committee will be extended,” said Khatiwada. He also said that, Speaker Onsari Gharti should take initiatives for activating the committee and granting additional tenure.
