PM Oli holds first-ever virtual meeting with Provincial Chiefs

KATHMANDU: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli held a virtual meeting today with the chief ministers of all seven provinces to discuss service delivery, good governance, overall progress, existing challenges, and the facilitation required by the federal government.

The meeting, conducted from the ‘Action Room’ at the Prime Minister’s Office in Singha Durbar, marked the first such dialogue between Prime Minister Oli and the chief ministers.

The discussion, which lasted over two and a half hours, saw Prime Minister Oli emphasize the need for one-on-one talks with the chief ministers.

He assured that further discussions would take place as preparations for the next fiscal year’s budget continue.

Prime Minister Oli expressed his intention to visit provinces and, where possible, engage with provincial assemblies to discuss national development and share perspectives between the center and provinces.

He also suggested leveraging current information technology to facilitate discussions at the district level and in projects.

Recalling his previous tenure as Prime Minister, Oli mentioned that the Action Room had been instrumental in monitoring and discussing nationwide infrastructure projects.

He promised to further enhance the use of this facility.

On the topic of education, Prime Minister Oli highlighted his efforts to improve the pass rate in the Secondary Education Examination (SEE), which had seen only 48% passing.

He shared that he had initiated supplementary classes for major subjects through an online platform with the help of youth, and around 57,000 students had participated.

He urged the chief ministers to prioritize education as a foundation for development and suggested that the use of technology could benefit sectors such as health as well.

In the dialogue, the chief ministers expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to discuss these matters and provided updates on the physical and financial progress made by their governments in the current fiscal year.

They raised several issues, including the need for continued budget allocation and increased grants for multi-year projects, easing land acquisition and tree cutting for project execution, enhanced disaster management budgets, control of smuggling and export violations, accelerating infrastructure projects, and resolving compensation disputes for the East-West railway.

The chief ministers also called for facilitating tourism and increasing revenue in their provinces.

Chief Secretary Ek Narayan Aryal assured that the issues raised by the chief ministers would be discussed in the Federal Cabinet and the government secretaries’ meetings for resolution.

The meeting also saw the participation of Prime Minister’s chief advisor Vishnu Prasad Rimal, economic advisor Dr. Yubraj Khatiwada, and senior officials.