Koshi Province Chief Minister Kedar Karki, who is also overseeing the portfolio of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Planning in the provincial government, on Saturday, tabled a bill to replace the ordinance issued earlier to unveil the budget for the current fiscal year at the provincial assembly.

The bill replaces the ordinance brought by former Chief Minister Hikmat Kumar Karki in September soon after he was reappointed following a Supreme Court’s order. The Karki-led government on September 10 brought a Rs36.24 budget through the ordinance.

The Rs36.74 billion replacement bill has allocated Rs12.68 billion for recurrent spending, which consists of regular expenses such as salaries and allowances. It has set aside Rs20.38 billion for capital spending, Rs10 million for financial management and has earmarked Rs3.66 billion for transfer to local levels.

The replacement bill has shelved over 3,200 projects with a budget below Rs2.5 million that were incorporated in the earlier budget.

Chief Minister Karki said agriculture and tourism sectors have been prioritised in the bill along with human development. The chief minister said he has tried to unveil a balanced budget by ensuring that each constituency gets a budget judiciously.

“Free treatment for children under 10 years of age and scholarships for those studying agriculture and livestock have been arranged. The budget has provisioned special allowances to encourage women health volunteers,” Chief Minister Karki said in the budget speech.

It is the third budget in Koshi for the current fiscal year. In August, the province entered a budget holiday after the deadline for the budget ordinance either to be endorsed as it is or be replaced with a new bill ended without taking the needed action. CPN-UML’s Hikmat Karki government had brought the budget through an ordinance on June 15. Karki unveiled the budget again on September 10 after his reappointment.