Double shift for development projects: Finance Minister

KATHMANDU: OCT. 10 – Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has said the contract for public construction would have an additional provision conditioning the implementation of the project in two shifts.

During his sitting with several bodies for the discussions about budget implementation issues here today, he said capital expenditure could not be increased through single-shift works and no rise in capital expenditures would cause a hurdle in meeting the target of economic growth.

“Development projects rarely meet deadlines and it is needed to work on a double shift to complete them on time,” he insisted. As he added, the government would pursue a policy of discouraging and eliminating the culture of intentional dillydallying in the implementation of development projects.

The Finance Minister said preparations are underway to reopen inoperative state-owned industries.

Likewise, a work procedure granting the permission of seeking the contract of public construction project up to Rs 100 million through a labor cooperatives would be finalized soon.

Also speaking on the occasion, National Planning Commission vice chair Bishwanath Poudel presented an idea of testing the real capacity of contractors before awarding the contract. The trend of awarding 70 percent of projects to a handful of people should be eliminated to see a pace in development.

He utilized the forum to question the existence of public organisations having failed to contribute to the country’s revenue collection.

The meeting stressed the need of increasing public expenditures and the effective implementation of the budget to secure the target of a seven-percent economic growth projected in the replacement budget.