KATHMANDU, Feb 10: Even though the government has provided the necessary budget for the completion of the House of Representatives and Provincial Assembly elections, the Election Commission (EC) is unable to pay the expenses incurred for the conduct and management of the elections.

Even though the government has provided the funds as requested to conduct the elections, the commission has been stuck in arrears. Although two and a half months have passed since the holding of the election, the commission is yet to pay Rs 2 billion to different parties, but the current policy of the government has put the commission in trouble. The commission said that the system of the Ministry of Finance has stopped the payment from the current budget.

On January 31, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel decided to cut 20 percent of the current expenditures as an austerity measure. Due to various internal and external reasons, the country's economy has been shrinking and the government's reserve fund is short of 90 billion rupees. So, the finance minister decided to freeze the current budget. Officials of the commission say that due to this decision, the commission has a problem in paying the expenses incurred for the purpose of the election.

The commission received a budget of Rs 10 billion from the government for the House of Representatives and provincial assembly elections. According to the commission, only seven billion rupees were spent on the election as it maintained frugality in expenditure. The remaining amount of Rs 3 billion has been returned to the government.

Bishnu Neupane, accounting officer of the commission, said that the government has withheld the money while preparing to pay the money for the manpower deployed in the election, from the printing of ballot papers to the conduct of election education and the purchase of election materials.

Although half of the expenses provided by the government have been paid, the commission is in trouble after the system of the Ministry of Finance has stopped the payment process while other organizations and individuals are going to be paid on the basis of priority. Those who come daily for payment are complaining to the commission," he said.

The commission had printed 80 million ballot papers for Rs 390 million for the printing of ballot papers, but more is left. The commission said that only 50 percent of the 30 billion rupees spent on voter education has been paid. A number of private sector parties are yet to be paid. As a result, the commission is under pressure to pay the amount. "The election funds should not have been stopped," said an official of the commission.

 
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