Nepali Congress objects to setting up of State restructuring ministry

Kathmandu, Oct 21 : The Nepali Congress (NC) has raised objections to the government decision to allocate a budget for the newly set up Ministry of State Restructuring and demanded that the ministry be scrapped immediately.

"The establishment of the Ministry of State Restructuring seriously contravenes Article 138 of the Interim Constitution and the jurisdiction of the Constituent Assembly," Kantipur quoted NC leader Dr. Minendra Prasad Rijal as saying.

In a discussion on budgetary appropriations for the Ministries of State Restructuring, the Peace and Reconstruction and the Local Development among others, Dr. Rijal said that the establishment of the state restructuring ministry was the Maoists' long-term strategy for imposing a 'People's Republic'.

Article 138 of the Interim Constitution states that a high-level commission shall be constituted to recommend restructuring of the state as per the wishes of people of different castes, languages, religions and regions through elimination of the centralised, unitary form of the state.

Referring to Clause 66 of the proposed draft Constituent Assembly (CA) rules and regulations, Dr. Rijal said the draft states that separate thematic committees including a state restructuring committee will be formed in the Constituent Assembly.

The committees will draft concept papers to be incorporated into the new Constitution.

Meanwhile, NC lawmaker, Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat, said the government breached financial discipline in allocating Rs 9.14 billion for the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction. He urged the government to reduce the budget allocated to the ministry.

He also claimed that around a budget of Rs 2.5 billion will be sufficient for cantonment management if it is spent properly.

ANI