KATHMANDU:- Nepali Congress President Gagan Kumar Thapa has commented that the budget for the upcoming fiscal year brought by the government has put forward some structural and policy-level reform efforts, but has failed to address the problems of low-income and disadvantaged groups.
Addressing the convention of the Nepal Tharu Association, President Thapa said that it was positive that the budget included some of the structural reform issues that the Congress has been raising for a long time. He made it clear that the Congress, as the opposition, would support in formulating necessary laws on the positive aspects.
However, he alleges that the budget and the government’s working style are more intent on ‘killing the poor’ than alleviating poverty. Chairman Thapa said that the government has become indifferent to low-income citizens at a time when their lives are becoming difficult due to the economic recession and rising inflation.
He said that while some of the government’s decisions are being praised on social media, the opposition’s goal is not to be swayed by cheap popularity but to ensure access to state funds and policies for all classes.
He said, “The state’s intention and tendency is not to eliminate poverty, but to eliminate the poor. It is suffering from the wrong idea that poverty will be eliminated by saying, ‘I will eliminate the poor who come before me.'” We saw this in yesterday’s budget as well.