Hari Bansh Jha, VC of Policy Commission of Province No.2 has been instrumental in facilitating the process of formulating budget, policies, and programs, stakeholders mapping, periodic plan and state profile based on SDGs. He tenured as Professor of Economics at Trbhuvan University and Executive Direcotr of Centre for Economic and Technical Studies. He has authored and edited 28 books on national and international affairs and also contibuted to leading newspapers and journals.

1. You are the first VC of the Policy Commission of province number 2. How have you accessed the development challenges and opportunities of the province?

We have been facing serious challenges in developing Province No. 2 ever since the formation of state government on Falgun 3, 2075. One of the common challenges is that the state has not been equipped with adequate number of employees from the federal government to implement development programmes. Besides, most of the employees who have been working in the state are not very concerned about supporting the government. This is one of the main reasons for the budget meant for development projects is being spent inappropriately. Additionally, we are also facing a resource crunch in executing development projects. But, on the brighter side, despite all these challenges, the state government is committed  to give a new direction to the state while people are equally enthusiastic to witness positive changes. Our advantage is the huge demographic dividend and other natural resources we possess, readily available for development activities. With such human and natural resources, we plan to establish Province No. 2  as a vibrant economy in the future.

2.Different indicators show that Province number 2 needs serious planning and fund to address the issues related to poverty, education, health and other social sectors. Do you have any specific vision to address those issues?

The Human Development Index shows a deplorable picture of Province No. 2, taking into account poverty, education, health and other social sectors. By far this is also the truth. Therefore, we need to encourage massive technical and financial sectors from both internal and external sources to invest in development projects as required by the social sector. We are now engaged in an exercise to identify such projects that could have a multiplier effect in our economy. Our vision for change is clear and will soon be reflected through actions.

3.You are preparing the first periodic plan of the province. What are the major priorities of the plan?

Recently, we have come out with stakeholders mapping for Province No. 2. According to our plan, we are going to engage ourselves in making provincial profile along with the periodic plan. Our priorities for developing our economy are set where agricultural development is the top priority, followed by the development of education, health and other sectors.

4.The federal government has adopted SDGs in its periodic plan. How are you planning to incorporate SDGs in the provincial plan?

It is appealing and admirable to see that the federal government has adopted SDGs in its periodic plan. It is also very likely that we will also incorporate SDGs when we create the provincial profile. We will complete this task on time within this fiscal year.

5.What is the situation of development finance in your province? How are you planning to manage/mobilize financial resources needed for the development of Province 2? 

As per the constitutional provision, currently we are largely dependent on the federal government concerning the finances. But we have noticed that the budgetary allocation made by the federal government for our development activities is not adequate. Therefore, we have also imposed certain taxes in the process of mobilizing additional resources for the development. 

More articles(DevelopmentAdvocate 2019)