Kathmandu, May 9
OnlineKhabar caught up with former finance minister and Nepali Congress leader Ram Sharan Mahat to talk about the KP Oli government’s policies and programmes. Excerpts from the interview:
What’s your take on Oli government’s policies and programmes?
Revenue proposals and budgetary allocations should have figured in the budget speech. They did not. The budget speech made mention of a good number of regular programmes as well as responsibilities that ministries, departments and subordinate government offices should shoulder. Many long-term projects feature in the budget speech, despite speculations that this government will not last even a month.
But Oli government has given continuity to many programmes that its predecessor initiated.
I am not commenting on this government’s policies and programmes. And I will not do so. This government has given continuity to our programmes and has introduced some new ones. This is but natural.
So, what makes you critical?
There are some loopholes in the policies and programmes, I do not want to focus on them. The announcement of policies and programmes is no big deal, their implementation is the main challenge. This depends on the capacity of the government.
Talking big and selling dreams serve no purpose. After becoming prime minister, Oliji made many sweet-sounding speeches. Seven months after forming a government, how many promises has he managed to keep? This government pledged to initiate post-quake reconstruction work on war footing. It has failed to walk the talk. Moreover, the budget speech does not suggest ways to effectively implement programmes.
What programmes do you find ambitious?
The government has pledged to generate 10,000 MW in 10 years. This is not impossible, but the government does not seem to be focusing on developing infrastructure needed to realise this goal. Then prime minister Prachanda had promised to generate 25,000 MW in 10 years. Eight years on, governments have failed to generate even 500 MW.
The Nepali Congress was also in the government. What did it do?
When we were in the government, we created bases for generation of 10,000 MW. It was our government that launched a campaign for restarting the development of Upper Karnali, Arun III and Pancheshwor projects. These projects can generate more than 10,000 MW. Because of our effort, donors made a pledge to provide four trillion rupees for post-quake reconstruction. People will get a huge relief if the government manages to implement this. Sadly, this government does not work, it only talks.
The government is preparing to bring the budget within a fortnight or so. Will you obstruct the budget?
Why should we do that? The Nepali Congress neither has the policy nor the tendency to pose obstructions. In fact, we want the budget on time, we want the budget to be good and lead to national prosperity. Our party will pose no obstruction to government’s regular work. We can, however, go to any length if the government flout parliamentary norms and values and starts breaching agreements.
