BUTWAL, July 16: Lumbini Province has brought the budget through ordinance today. The cabinet meeting held this morning decided to bring the budget through the ordinance.
Spokesperson for the provincial government and Minister for Economic Affairs Baijanath Chaudhary informed that the budget presented in the house was brought through an ordinance. “We have not changed a single thing including punctuations in the budget presented in the house. The only difference is the process,” said Minister Chaudhary. He said that the budget had to be passed through an ordinance after the opposition obstructed its endorsement through the provincial assembly.
Koshi govt issues budget ordinance
The cabinet meeting of the government held this morning after concluding the session at midnight Thursday decided to recommend to the Province Governor to issue the Appropriation Ordinance 2078 and Lumbini Province Economic Ordinance 2078. The two ordinances were issued by the Province Chief Dharmanath Yadav on the recommendation of the cabinet meeting.
The provincial government had brought a budget of Rs 40.95 billion for the fiscal year 2021/22. Ministers and UML MPs, including Chief Minister Shankar Pokharel, boycotted the House after realizing that a majority was not reached in the budget discussion process.
Addressing the House, the Chief Minister had repeatedly urged the opposition to pass the budget by consensus. Pokharel, who could not get a majority to pass the budget, then ended the session and started preparing to bring the budget through the ordinance.
Currently, the Lumbini Provincial Assembly has 83 members. The opposition alliance has 41 MPs except the Speaker.
