KATHMANDU, March 2: The government led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, which promised to deliver good governance, development and prosperity, has fallen short of its self-imposed targets. Despite formulating policies and programs, as well as budgetary goals, the government has struggled to achieve progress.

According to the monitoring and assessment conducted by the Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers (OPMCM), only 16.45 percent of the annual targets have been met in the first six months of the current fiscal year 2023/24. This lackluster performance, where only 533 out of 1,520 milestone targets have been completed, is deemed unsatisfactory.

Following the half-yearly assessment of the progress in the current fiscal year, Prime Minister Dahal expressed dissatisfaction because the performance of all the ministries and other agencies wasn’t progressive.

Prime Minister Dahal called the ministers and secretaries of the ministries and expressed his displeasure stating that there was very poor progress in the milestones prepared by the ministries themselves.

“There is no need to be satisfied with the performance,” Prime Minister Dahal said, “None of the ministries  have made progress according to the target. There is no uniformity in our policies, budgets and programs,” said Dahal, “Ministries and other agencies should conduct their performance according to the annual targets and indicators.”

The assessment of the government revealed that 23 ministries, including the OPMCM, have shown very poor progress. The government’s inability to meet targets extends to budget execution is a result of poor capital expenditure at 23.39 percent and recurrent expenditure at  47.91 percent as of February 28. This lack of spending hampers development efforts, raising concerns about weak capital expenditure and sluggish development projects.

In the assessment of ministries, the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MoCIT) ranks lowest in progress, led by Minister Rekha Sharma. The MoCIT has achieved only 5.38 percent of its annual targets.

However, the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration has made significant progress based on the targets. 

The Ministry of Urban Development ranks second among the ministries with poor progress that achieved 5.56 percent of the annual target and 10.20 percent of the half-yearly target. The MoUD has prepared 756 annual milestones and achieved 42 out of 354 to be completed in six months.

The Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs is in third place for poor progress. The progress of the ministry led by Dhanraj Gurung is only 5.88 percent based on the annual target. Of the 51 milestones set, only three of the target of 19 have been completed.

Similarly, the progress of Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Ministry of Water Supply, Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Ministry of Forests and Environment, Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation, Ministry of Finance, and Ministry of Defense is below 20 percent of the target.

Minister Mahendra Raya Yadav for the Ministry of Water Supply has made progress of only 6.60 percent. Out of the target of 106 milestones, only seven have been completed during this period. 

Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Sudan Kirati has limited the progress of the ministry to 7.35 percent.

Similarly, the progress of Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport is 9.35 percent, Foreign Affairs is 12.50 percent, Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation is 15.73 percent, Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens is 16.07 percent, Ministry of Forests and Environment is 17.17 percent, and Ministry of Finance is 18.18 percent.

The OPMCM has also made 19.32 percent progress based on milestones. Similarly, Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies has achieved 23.91 percent progress, Home Ministry (25.29 percent), Ministry of Youth and Sports (22.58 percent), Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (29.58 percent), Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security (26.76 percent), Ministry of Health and Population (35.75  percent), and Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration (47.54 percent).

 
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