JANAKPURDHAM: Madhesh Province Finance Minister Yubaraj Bhattarai said the provincial government has prioritised financial discipline and administrative reforms over the last 100 days.

While presenting his 100-day progress report in Janakpurdham on Friday, Bhattarai stated that the government would make no compromises in its campaign to ensure financial governance.

According to the minister, unnecessary budget reallocations and additional disbursements have been reduced by 53.57 percent, while reallocations during the month of Asar decreased by 95.96 percent. The ministry has returned 120 files deemed to be against the law and halted contracts lacking secured funding. The government has also shifted the practice of budget entry from the Ministry of Finance to the respective line ministries.

Administrative reforms include a 32 percent reduction in staff positions within the Ministry of Finance. The government has transferred 76 accounting staff who had been working in the same offices for long periods and implemented a policy where one employee is assigned to only one office. Staff who fail to report to their new stations within seven days will have their access to account operations suspended. Furthermore, e-attendance has been made mandatory, and a performance-based incentive system has been introduced.

The government has significantly reduced the number of projects from 27,404 to 15,808 to curb the practice of spreading budget thinly. A complete ban has been placed on new projects costing less than Rs 10 million and the purchase of new vehicles. “There will be no compromise on financial governance and transparency,” Bhattarai said. “Our priority is to end irregularities in the province’s financial management and make governance and development effective.”

Additionally, the ministry reported that it has recovered approximately Rs 200 million in revenue owed by local levels and has improved the system for depositing revenue into the provincial consolidated fund.