Ministry of Finance Releases NPR 19.21 Billion for House of Representatives Election

Kathmandu — The Ministry of Finance has released NPR 19.21 billion by Tuesday for the management and security of the upcoming House of Representatives election. The election is scheduled to be held on Falgun 21, and the budget has been allocated to the Election Commission, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, and their subordinate security agencies.

According to Ministry of Finance spokesperson Tank Prasad Pandey, NPR 10.39 billion has been released to the Ministry of Home Affairs, NPR 1.99 billion to the Ministry of Defense, and NPR 6.72 billion to the Election Commission. The Election Commission has estimated that the total cost of the election will reach approximately NPR 27 billion, of which over NPR 19 billion has already been disbursed.

Earlier, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Defense had submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Finance seeking around NPR 20.5 billion for election security. The proposal included estimated expenses for the Nepal Army, Nepal Police, Armed Police Force, National Investigation Department, and election police.

The Central Security Committee has decided to recruit 147,000 election police personnel for election security. These personnel will be deployed for a 40-day period and will receive remuneration, uniforms, rations, transportation, and meal allowances equivalent to police constables. For this purpose, a budget of NPR 9.15 billion has been proposed.

Additionally, NPR 4.02 billion has been allocated for Nepal Police, NPR 3.44 billion for the Nepal Army, NPR 3.33 billion for the Armed Police Force, NPR 314.6 million for all 77 District Administration Offices, NPR 310 million for the Ministry of Home Affairs, and NPR 69 million for the National Investigation Department. The government plans to deploy 79,727 personnel from the Nepal Army, 71,620 from Nepal Police, 35,116 from the Armed Police Force, and 1,900 from the National Investigation Department for election security.

In comparison, during the 2079 BS House of Representatives and Provincial Assembly elections, NPR 18.05 billion was released, of which NPR 16.49 billion—about 91.37 percent—was spent. Similarly, in the fiscal year 2078/79 local level elections, the government released NPR 13.31 billion, with approximately 90.8 percent of the budget utilized, according to Ministry of Finance data.