Physical infrastructure construction first condition for economic development: PM

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ has said the construction of physical infrastructures was the first condition for the economic development of the country.

The infrastructure sector plays a key role in developing the foundation for socialism, he said while addressing the 61st anniversary of the Nepal Engineers Association here today.

Stating that there was less development budget as compared to the budget under current expenditure in the country that has little internal resources, the PM rued failure to spend the development budget timely.

He called for ending the trend of spending budget in a hurry at the eleventh hour of every next fiscal year which causes low-quality work.

The government was always ready to facilitate in correcting errors and addressing problems in the legal, structural and procedural things to end the trend of not starting construction works in time, he said. “Initiatives will be taken in making arrangements for construction work and development activities to take place in time within the ceiling of the allocated budget.”

Ruling out the possibility of advancing towards economic progress without focusing on development and infrastructure, the Prime Minister insisted on the necessity of investments from the government, private sector and the foreign community to drive development endeavours forward.

Given the limited sources available to the government for undertaking development endeavours, the Prime Minister stressed the importance of actively seeking investment from the private sector and fostering increased foreign economic cooperation.

“Once the development gains momentum, it will lead to an overall improvement of the nation’s economic status,” he said, adding that the government was committed to ensuring people’s happiness through tangible and positive changes in the nation.

“The incumbent government is committed to acting swiftly against corruption in a bid to achieve good governance. We are thankful to the mass for their significant support and solidarity to this campaign,” the Prime Minister said.

Also speaking on the occasion, Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Prakash Jwala, said the present age was an era of physical infrastructure development and technology, and the nation’s prosperity was unimaginable in the absence of physical infrastructure development.

“But we feel a huge gap in the infrastructure development within ourselves. People in some parts of the country do not even have access to a health post while some have access to the latest IT development. Our efforts should be for bridging this gap by utilising infrastructure and IT development as a means of achieving economic prosperity.”

According to the minister, infrastructure development, connectivity, and electrification are prime needs of the hour and such developments will up avenues for other forms of development. “Physical infrastructure has been taken as a base for prosperity,” he said, underling the need of ensuring that each development endeavour is pro-people, of quality and sustainable.

On the occasion, the Prime Minister honoured those graduates for their outstanding performance under various genres.