Bhadrapur, June 1: President of the Jhapa Chamber of Commerce Parasuram Agrawal has termed the national budget for fiscal year 2000/2001 presented by Finance Minister Mahesh Acharya as the best budget in the last 29 years in the country’s budget history.
The present budget is praiseworthy in terms of its resolve on poverty alleviation, good governance and strengthening of the law and order situation, Agrawal said, but added that its success depended on the revenue collection and effective implementation of the programmes spelled out in the budget document.
He said the annual renewal tariff of Rs 100,000 levied for brick kilns and the Rs 500 tax levied on every 1,000 pieces of bricks so as to check revenue leakage by the brick industries was a good step in revenue collection.
However, low-income families wanting to construct brick houses are sure to face a lot of difficulties by this provision, he added.
He said that although His Majesty’s Government has remarkably raised the salary of the civil servants, the increment of salary for the lower level civil servants was not sufficient for them even to sustain their families.
Reader of economics at Mechi Campus, Bhadrapur, Krishna Mainali said overall the budget was very good but remarked that all the merits of the budget would have no meaning if the rise in the market price is not controlled.
Reader of Management Dr. Nil Prasad Timseena said the budget was “ambitious”. he said the budget has delineated many steps to increase revenue collection and although it was traditional, it had spelled out some new policies and programmes.
Proprietor of Danfe Re-processing Pvt Ltd. Chandi Raj Parajuli expressed the view that the move to taxing the agriculture income from tea has dampened the spirits of the farmers attracted towards tea cultivation.
Whatever the comments on the new budget from various sectors, for one the government employees here are very grateful to His Majesty’s Government for the increment in their pay scale.
Meanwhile in Janakpurdham, the District Administration Office, Dhanusha, fined Rs 1,000 each from three local businessmen from Janakpur Municipality-4 form kerosene black-marketing.
According to the District Aministration Office, those fined are Birendra Saha, Jamuna Mandal and a third businessman from the locality.
They were caught selling four drums of kerosene in the black market red-handed in a raid conducted by the District Administration Office on May 27.
Similarly in Inaruwa, a patroal team form the District Police Office, Sunsari has found unclaimed goods worth Rs. 20,000 at the bus square in Inaruwa-6.
The goods, which has been smuggled into Nepal were handed over to District Customs Office, police said.