The Rastriya Swatantra Party on Thursday registered a resolution motion at the Parliament Secretariat demanding to scrap the Local Infrastructure Development Partnership Programme, popularly known as the Constituency Development Fund.

The state coffers will bleed from such a disputed programme that can’t utilise resources properly at a time when the economy is collapsing, the party said.

Bringing such a programme focused on local development from the federal level seems to create distrust in the performance of the local governments, states the motion.

The party has demanded that the budget allocated for the Constituency Infrastructure Development Programme should be immediately stopped and that it should be diverted to other essential development works.

The government, through the annual budget, had revived the controversial programme which was shelved for two years.

In the budget speech, Finance Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat announced the allocation of Rs50 million for each constituency under the programme to ‘address the local needs of development works through their representatives.’

Mahat said a total of Rs8.25 billion has been allocated for the programme, which should be spent on specific sectors such as roads, irrigation, water supply, education and sports.

The Infrastructure Development Programme initiated by the government led by late Sushila Koirala was discontinued after widespread criticism over the misuse of funds.

Also, the Office of the Auditor General has pointed out irregularities in the programme.