Kathmandu: Parliamentarians on Tuesday expressed mixed reactions to the government's newly unveiled policies and programmes for the upcoming fiscal year 2023/24.

Some parliamentarians welcomed the policies and programmes, while others expressed concerns about their implementation.

Bhanubhakta Joshi, a member of the House of Representatives, pressed for adopting a policy of zero-tolerance against corruption. He said that there should not be a situation where the guilty one gets scot-free while the innocent ones are prosecuted.

Stating that the government's policies and programmes for the upcoming fiscal year were overall good, Joshi cast his doubt over its effective implementation.

"The government has unveiled ambitious policies and programmes, but I am not sure if they will be implemented effectively," he said.

Similarly, Abdul Khan, a member of the National Assembly, lauded the introduction of 'Made in Nepal', 'Make in Nepal' and 'Our products, Our Dignity' among other programmes that aim to boost the domestic production. He suggested that the government should consider entering appropriate agreement with labour destination countries so as to address the issues prevailing the foreign employment sector in the country.

"The government should also take steps to promote exports and attract foreign investment," Khan said.

Deepak Khadka, a member of the House of Representatives, remarked that some important issues were lacking in the government's policies and programmes. He asserted that the government should adopt policies to increase production and enhance productivity in the country heavily dependent on remittance.

"The government should also focus on creating employment opportunities for the youths," Khadka said.

He also opined that the government should seek additional resources for budget as, he added, the government was struggling to garner resources for the upcoming budget. He argued that the people's representatives should also fulfill aspirations of the people who elected them.

"It is necessary to fulfill their aspirations by optimally utilizing our resources," Khadka said.

Underscoring transparency, Mahesh Basnet, a member of the National Assembly, said that the government's expenditure should be evaluated and the public accounting system streamlined.

He rued over the policies and programmes saying they failed to clearly reflect issues relating to scope of insurance, effective execution of the Prime Minister Agriculture Modernization Project, and welfare of the landless squatters, among others.

"The government should make sure that the policies and programmes are implemented in a transparent and accountable manner," Basnet said.

Another parliamentarian Mahendra Bahadur Shahi raised question on the effectiveness of the policies and programmes introduced by the erstwhile and incumbent government.

"It is imperative to self-evaluate the effective implementation of the policies and programmes rolled out by the previous government," he said.

Manish Jha emphasized making public service delivery more effective and ensuring good-governance.

"A study has shown that political discontent was on the rise in Nepal. We all are held accountable for that. The discontent has a lot to do with slacking public service delivery and good-governance," he observed.

According to Deepak Bahadur Singh, the government should take the lead to revive the sick industries. Expressing concern over the flagging state of the Hetauda Cement Factory and Udayapur Cement Factory, he spoke of the need to make the management of these sick industries robust.

He also suggested that each province have a Medical Hospital. He viewed that there should be referendum on the governing system and secularism.

Ranju Kumari Jha commented that the policies and programmes had repeatedly included the same issues for the past five years. According to her, issues relating to establishing fertilizer factory, increasing investment for public private partnership in education sector, insurance for sportspersons and establishment of Ramraja Singh Health and Science Academy among others were missed in the policies and programmes.

"The government should come up with new and innovative ideas to address the challenges facing the country," Jha said.

Ambar Bahadur Thapa said that the upcoming policies and programmes were more distribution-oriented than result-oriented.

"There is absence of result-oriented plans in the government's upcoming policies and programmes that could be achieved within a year or two," Thapa said.

The next meeting of the House of Representatives to deliberate on the government's newly unveiled policies and programmes is scheduled tomorrow at 11: 00 am.