By Modnath Dhakal, Kathmandu, June 14: Local governments are struggling to conceptualise, discuss and develop their annual budget for the coming fiscal year 2020/21 amidst the COVID-19 crisis.

The budget is created with a series of discussions with the community groups, women and other sectoral groups including the opposition parties, experts and elected leaders and its exercise begins months before the announcement of the estimates of income and expenditures for the next fiscal.

However, the lockdown and strict social distancing requirement have posed challenges to the local bodies to hold the discussions and solicit the ideas and programmes.

It has been even more difficult in the local units with poor internet connection and digital literacy among the elected representatives which bars them from holding the digital meetings or asking to submit the ideas via email or social networking sites.

But the coronavirus pandemic has not deterred the local governments from exercising the budget preparations including holding meetings and developing programmes.

Nagarjun Municipality of Kathmandu district has almost completed the pre-budget discussions even amidst the growing global health crisis and lockdown.

“We have organised all-party meeting, and discussions with the lawmakers from the federal and state parliaments and opposition party leaders, women and children groups while maintaining social distancing and safety measures,” said Mohan Bahadur Basnet, Mayor of the municipality.

Gandaki Gaunpalika in Gorkha district has also held the stakeholders’ meeting including community discussions for the pre-budget discussions.

It has called the Budget Task Force meeting on Monday to discuss the budget procedures.

“COVID-19 has created problems as its patients were identified here. But the Gaunpalika is applying every possible alternative to hold the discussions and design programmes for the next year,” said Ram Prasad Regmi, Chair of ward no. 8 of Gandaki.

Local units in most of the mid-hill districts are in comparatively easy situation as the infection is spread a little as compared to the districts in Terai.

“Discussions are being held smoothly among the local people and stakeholders,” said Kabiraj Dhakal, Chair of ward no. 6 of Kaligandaki Gaunpalika in Gulmi district. Poor reach of and access to internet and telecommunication in some places has hindered the digital interactions there, however.

But the situation in Terai is more challenging due to rapid spread of the coronavirus. For example Pokhariya Municipality of Parsa district is facing problems in organising meeting for budget formulation.

“The pandemic has affected the entire budgeting process. No meetings could be held so far. Many local bodies like ours do not have the administrative staff at this crucial time,” said Salma Khatun, Deputy Mayor of Pokhariya.

However, she said that the municipality was preparing the policy and programmes for the next fiscal year and waiting for the state-level budget to make the exact estimates of income.

Budget on 24 June

Despite multiple challenges, the local bodies, while talking to The Rising Nepal daily, said that they would announce the budget on 24 June, the deadline set by the law. Some of them and many others are planning to announce the policy and programmes and budget at the same date.

Intergovernmental Fiscal Arrangement Act, 2017, has a provision that the local bodies must announce the budget for the upcoming fiscal year by 24 June – about 10 days later than the states’ budget and 25 days following the federal budget.

Priority to health and employment

The local bodies are focusing on the programmes on health and employment, especially on agriculture and cottage enterprises as mentioned in the guidelines prepared by the federal government for the local bodies.

The guidelines suggested the local governments to focus on the operation and management of quarantine centres, distribution of relief, health awareness campaign, and projects that create employments like the small infrastructure projects, commercialisation of agriculture and cottage and small industries.

“Our priority is agriculture, health and employment including the Youth Self-employment Programme and Prime Minister Employment Programme,” said Regmi.

Chandragiri Municipality has accorded priority to agriculture, health, education and employment. Mayor Basnet said that the state and federal governments must increase budget for the employment and health sector since the municipality was already short of resources as it lost about Rs 250 million in the last 3 months of lockdown.

Gandaki, Kaligandaki and Pokhariya also echoed the same opinion and are looking up to the state and federal governments for additional support to manage the required funds.

Dhakal said that the Gaunpalika government was planning for ‘one household, one product’ and creating connectivity between the producers and market centres.

Likewise, Khatun said that although the PMEP was relevant for short-term employment generation, people need programmes that can raise the living standards of people in the run.

The local bodies are also facing tough time to arrange chemical fertilisers and agricultural inputs