Priority will be given to provinces lagging behind in HDI: PM Dahal

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ has said the budget for the upcoming fiscal year would be allocated by keeping Karnali, Sudurpaschim and Madhes, the provinces which are backward in the Human Development Index (HDI), at the centre.

PM Dahal shared this during a meeting with a delegation including Chief Minister of Sudurpaschim Province Kamal Bahadur Shah at the Prime Minister’s residence in Baluwatar today. The Prime Minister asserted that the development of all these three provinces would be kept in priority in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

On the occasion, the delegation briefed the Prime Minister about the overall economic situation of the province and the ongoing development and construction activities there, urging him to give special priority to the province in the appropriation of the budget. Prime Minister Dahal said some special provisions centering on Sudurpaschim province have been made in the government’s policies and programmes and it would be kept in priority in the budget as well, according to Govinda Acharya, the PM’s press advisor.

The delegation also called attention of the Prime Minister on the reduction of the equalization grants to the province in the current fiscal year. The delegation also separately met with National Planning Commission (NPC) vice-chairman Min Bahadur Shrestha and Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat on Tuesday.