Provincial assembly in Sudurpaschim has finally endorsed the annual budget after more than two months since the start of the current fiscal year of 2024-25.

After more than two months of budget hiatus caused by political instability, the provincial assembly on Sunday endorsed the budget by a majority. The annual budget was passed amid dissatisfaction from the ruling parties.

Nepali Congress provincial assembly leader Kamal Bahadur Shah was appointed chief minister of the Sudurpaschim Province on August 4 with support from the CPN-UML and Nagarik Unmukti Party. This marks his second term as chief minister. He had earlier headed the provincial government for 14 months from February 9, 2023 to April 4 this year.

While addressing the assembly meeting on Sunday, the assembly members of the Nepali Congress and the UML criticised the budget. They claimed that the budget was prepared in a biased way, allocating more funds to the constituencies of influential leaders. “I am totally dissatisfied with the budget. But I feel compelled to pass it,” said Santosh Kumari Sharma Thapa, the deputy leader of UML’s parliamentary committee. “The budget distribution should be judicious but it did not happen. It is misfortune to endorse such a budget,” she added.

The Congress-UML has a majority in the 53-member provincial assembly. The Congress has 18 members and the UML has 11. The Nagarik Unmukti Party has seven members in the assembly.

The Congress-led government presented the annual budget totalling Rs31.62 billion on September 16. The government employees have been deprived of salaries while day to day administrative work and developmental activities were affected due to lack of budget in Sudurpaschim Province.