SATV, Kathmandu, Aug. 09 - Although local governments are required to present their policies, programmes and budgets for the next fiscal year to their respective assemblies by Asar 10, Dharan Sub-Metropolitan City has yet to present its budget for the fiscal year 2026/27 to the municipal assembly.
The executive meeting and municipal assembly scheduled for Friday were postponed following a dispute among elected representatives during the budget preparation process.
A meeting of the Budget Formulation Committee was also held to reach an agreement and finalise the budget, but it ended inconclusively amid disagreements.
Ward Chairperson of Dharan Sub-metropolitan City-18 Narendra Kumar Rai accused Acting Mayor Aindra Bikram Begha of putting forward a budget and plan worth around Rs. 320 million without sufficient discussion and consultation in the committee.
According to Rai, questions were raised over the allocation of Rs. 50 million for the cooperative sector, Rs. 110 million under the ‘municipal pride’ heading, Rs. 30 million for the mayor’s vision programme and Rs. 40 million for road maintenance.
Ward Chairperson Rai said further discussion and consensus were necessary regarding the basis and priorities for selecting projects and allocating funds.
Acting Mayor Begha, however, said while finalising the budget, Ward Chairperson Rai and Ward Chairperson of Ward No. 15 Naresh Iwaram made inappropriate and obscene remarks at him and behaved in a manner that was against the dignity of the meeting.
He said that the atmosphere of the meeting became uncomfortable due to the incident.
According to Acting Mayor Begha, pressure was exerted to cut the budget for programmes related to the common interests of Dharan residents, including cooperatives, a plan to make Dharan free of potholes and the operation of municipal buses.
Although differences of opinion and disagreements are natural in a democratic system, he said disagreement should be expressed through dialogue, restraint, mutual respect and within institutional norms and decorum.
The failure to present the budget within the legally prescribed deadline is likely to affect development works and service delivery in Dharan.
Residents said that development work has been affected in the past due to the failure to hold municipal assemblies on time.
With no agreement reached on the budget, the financial and development activities of Dharan Sub-metropolitan City have become uncertain at the very beginning of the new fiscal year.
