Ambitious programmes announced by one government left abandoned by another

The phenomenon has led to the waste of millions of rupees and erosion of people’s trust in the provincial government.

The second provincial assembly of Karnali elected CPN (Maoist Centre) leader Raj Kumar Sharma as the chief minister. Sharma remained in the post for about one year. While assuming office, the Sharma-led government pledged to employ 10,000 young people annually—a flagship initiative branded the ‘Karnali Samriddi Pariyojana’, literally ‘Karnali Prosperity Project’. A task force was formed, legal drafts were prepared and nearly Rs1.5 billion was allocated in the fiscal year of 2023-24. Yet, by the time Sharma and his coalition were unseated in April, 2023, not a single rupee had been spent, and the programme lay dormant.