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Kathmandu Friday February 15, 2002 Falgun 03, 2058.
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Army to get Rs 3 b more
By Bijaya Ghimire
KATHMANDU, Feb 14: The government is planning to
provide an additional sum of Rs 3 billion to the Royal Nepal Army (RNA), which was
mobilised to contain the Maoist rebels following the announcement of state of emergency on
26th November.
A highly placed government source told The
Kathmandu Post that an understanding to this regard was reached between the government and
the Royal Nepal Army a couple of days ago.
The additional amount is to be used in meeting
the expenses after the announcement of the state of emergency and to procure arms and
ammunition for the army. The amount would also be used to purchase helicopters.
The Indian government has provided two Chetak
helicopters through grants while the government has purchased two Mi-17 choppers from
Russia.
The Finance Ministry had initially planned to
provide Rs 3 billion for the next five-year period to modernise the Nepal army. However,
the imposition of emergency and the mobilisation of the army to quell the Maoist
insurgency has prompted the government to inject the money immediately.
"We have requested the army to spend the
money as per requirements," said the source. However, the source informed that no
concrete decision has yet been taken on allocating the amount to security forces other
than the army.
Security agencies have been demanding Rs 5
billion from the government to meet soaring security expenses. The government had
allocated Rs 500 million in the first month of the declaration of emergency. The budget
for the current fiscal year had earmarked Rs 10.30 billion for the combined security
expenses of police and the army.
However, with ballooning security expenses, the
overall amount spent on internal security, despite a shrinking budget for the current
fiscal year, is expected to touch Rs 15 billion.
As revenue collection is at a low ebb for the
government at the moment, it is under intense pressure to augment the security budget, and
pressure to make a decision in line with the proposed allocated budget is not apparent as
the Finance Ministry is reluctant to increase its financial burden.
Though the need of recruiting more army
personnel is felt in keeping with the present conditions, no extra budget, has been
appropriated for this purpose, as it could add an additional financial burden on the long
run. The Finance Ministry is not positive on this issue. Besides, the ministry has been
hesitant on making any decisions that could add extra financial burdens by forming various
commissions and committees.
Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat, in the
recently concluded Nepal Development Forum meet had said that due to rising security
expenses, there has been a dearth of funds for development projects. He also said that the
government has no money to rehabilitate those people displaced due to the Maoists
rebellion.
The government has cut 25 per cent of
development expenditures due mainly to lesser collection of revenue than projected and
rising security expenses. The government has cut the development budget to village
development committees by 50 per cent, constituency development fund by 25 per cent and
budget to municipalities, sub-metropolis and metropolis by 10 per cent. This would
advertantly affect about 50 per cent development projects throughout the country.
The government had targeted to raise revenue
mobilization by 20 per cent in the current fiscal year but the percentage has remained at
three in the first six months, which is the lowest in the past 10 years. The government
had made changes in tax rates through two ordinances with a view to mobilize an additional
amount of Rs 2 billion in revenue, but the possibility of achieving the target is remote
as the economic situation is bleak.
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