Gandaki State Minister Gurung vows effective implementation of budget

Pokhara, June 17  ,,  Gandaki State Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning, Kiran Gurung, today ensured effective implementation of the state budget for the fiscal year of 2019/2020. Some required laws have been made and others in the process, which would facilitate budget enforcement, he said at a press conference organised here by the Federation of Nepali Journalists, Kaski. Emphasising the collection of internal revenue, he said the state government has prioritised transportation, tourism and agriculture among others for revenue collection. Pointing out that 60 to 75 percent of vehicles plying in the state have been registered elsewhere, he said provision would be in place to register these vehicles in the state, and 25 percent tax would be waived in this regard. The government aims to collect Rs 3.2 billion from new vehicle registration and renewal in this fiscal year, he said. Stating the concept of forming development authority has been brought to make the development projects effective, he expressed the confidence that formation of this authority would provide important support to the completion of projects of national pride and significance in a speedy manner. The state government minister for economic affairs and planning said Rs 20 million has been allocated to each election constituency under the electoral constituency development programme. He added that both state assembly lawmakers- those elected through the first-past-the post election and those elected under the proportional quota election system- would have a role in this programme. Although there are 2,100 civil service posts in the Gandaki state, only around 900 of these posts have been filled so far, the state minister Gurung said, adding the state government would recruit employees even on contract basis for providing services and facilities to the people in a speedy and convenient manner through the implementation of the budget. He said emphasis has been laid on physical infrastructure development for tourism promotion and the budget has been managed accordingly. The Gandaki state government presented a budget of Rs 32 billion 134 million 792 thousand for the fiscal year 2019/2020 in the State Assembly on Sunday.