Dil Bahadur Gharti, the committee chair, ordered Minister Pandit to explain in detail how he will spend the allocated budget in the next three months. Gharti announced the committee's decision, after lawmakers criticized the minister for failing to spend the allocated budget in nine months of the fiscal year.Pandit had earlier informed lawmakers that the ministry has so far spent 37 per cent of the total budget of Rs 660 million allocated to the ministry.
"Even after nine months, the minister could not spend the allocated budget. It is mainly due to the proposed plans and programs being vague," said Nabindra Raj Joshi, Nepali Congress Lawmaker.
He said that the ministry should come up with concrete plans and programs and start spending the budget to implement plans and programs for administrative reforms in bureaucratic sector.
Rabindra Pratab Sah of the UCPN (Maoist) said that it is unfortunate that the ministry could spend money only for salaries and allowances of civil servants.
Members of the committee became more critical as the minister told the lawmakers that his ministry had planned to propose the Ministry of Finance increase its annual budget from the next fiscal year on.
Minister Pandit had said that the ministry has not been able to spend its annual budget for capacity building of civil servants due to delays on the part of the cabinet committee to draft new training policy.
Related story
Weak govt capacity: Rs 350 billion budget remained unspent
