Around 5 percent of the projects chosen by ex-lawmakers under the Constituency Infrastructure Special Programme (CISP) and the Constituency Development Programme (CDP) have been affected by the Supreme Court’s order not to implement them, according to the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development. 

On January 14, the apex court had issued an interim order prohibiting implementation of the projects under the two schemes, after hearing on the writ filed by Jhapat Bahadur Rawal, newly-elected lawmaker to the House of Representatives from Kailali-2.

The court order, however, says project works which were under implementation before October 14, 2017 could be continued. The tenure of ex-lawmakers had ended on October 14 last year. But the court halted choosing any fresh project and allocation of budget until newly-elected lawmakers assume office. 

Subsequently, the ministry wrote to the District Technical Offices on February 11, asking them to follow the court order. 

Dinesh Thapaliya, secretary at the ministry, said that the court’s order has halted implementation of 5 percent of projects chosen under the two schemes for which the District Technical Offices had signed agreements with contractors or consumer committees.

As 95 percent of the projects were just chosen there will not be any problem scrapping them, said Thapaliya. Nearly all ex-lawmakers had chosen projects under these schemes before their term expired, according to the ministry records. But these projects ground to a halt at the start of this fiscal year due to the election code of conduct issued by the Election Commission.

Under pressure from the erstwhile lawmakers, the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development on December 31 wrote to the District Technical Offices for implementation of projects of their choice under those schemes.

Of the total Rs10 billion allocated under the two programmes, Rs30 million has been released for each constituency to implement projects under the CISP and Rs5 million to each lawmaker to implement projects under the CDP.

Following the court order, the resources allocated for the controversial schemes have been saved for now. The ministry is now considering taking advice from the Office of Attorney General on these programmes after the newly-elected lawmakers take oath of office.

‘Distribute govt ads proportionally’

KATHMANDU: The Supreme Court on Sunday issued an interim order to the government, asking it to immediately implement directives concerning proportional distribution of government advertisements.

A single-bench of Chief Justice Gopal Prasad Parajuli sought clarifications from the Office of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Information and Communications, and the Department of Information.

Earlier, the government had failed to implement the document it had prepared. The Federation of Nepali Journalists had registered a case in the SC demanding implementation of the regulation without delay.

After implementation of the directives, all the media outlets, irrespective of their size and strength, will get government advertisements in a proportional way. FNJ has welcomed the ruling. (PR)