Nepal opposition warns govt against misusing taxpayers' money

Nepali Congress chief and opposition leader Sher Bahadur Deuba today accused K P Sharma Oli-led coalition government of giving false assurances to the people, warning against "misusing" the taxpayers' money for "populist budget" to be announced soon.
"The Prime Minister is giving false assurances to the people making a mockery of democracy and in this situation there is every possibility of misusing the budget money, which is a product of grants of the international donors and the contributions of the tax payers," Deuba said, addressing a function organised by the Nepal Press Union to honour the founders of the organisation.

"The Prime Minister is giving such assurances as to bring railway line in Kathmandu, to generate 10,000 MW of electricity in ten years, to supply cooking gas to the households through pipeline and to produce petroleum products within the country without creating any infrastructure and doing any ground work, which has become a laughing subjects for the ordinary people," said the main opposition leader.
"In this situation there is every possibility of the tax payers' money to be misused when the government announces the new budget in a few days," he said.
He said if the government tries to "misuse the taxpayers' money in the name of populist budget", Nepali Congress will not keep quiet.

"We will take strong measures to counter the government's move," he said.
On the occasion, Nepali Congress general secretary Shashanka Koirala said the Nepalese journalists have played a key role during establishment of democracy at different time periods and asked the press to be vigilant against any attempt to derail the democracy.
"We have produced a good Constitution, and the media has an important role to play in implementing it," he added.