.JPG)
KATHMANDU: The 16th Periodic Plan will feature a separate chapter about issues concerning sustainable development goals (SDGs).
This was informed during a meeting of the Sustainable Development and Good Governance Committee of the National Assembly today.
The approach paper of the 16th Plan has already been drafted and currently, the document is under discussion. Today's committee meeting discussed its connection to the SDGs.
During the meeting, Committee President Prakash Panth said plans targeted at excluded committees had been marred by the gaps in the implementation and such issues will be considered in the course of preparing a final draft of the Plan.
Stating that grants working procedures of the governments at various levels were based on a distributive approach, he urged the National Planning Commission (NPC) to take the lead in making such endeavours productive.
Lawmaker Kamala Pant opined that good governance, social justice and prosperity should be the priorities of the upcoming five-year periodic plan. "Our experiences so far highlight the need of considering the implementation aspect while drafting the plans."
Tul Prasad Bishwakarma underlined the need of ensuring the roles of experts concerned while drafting plans and Mahesh Kumar Mahara stressed the localisation of SDGs through the 16th Plan.
Bhuwan Bahadur Sunar advocated for the inclusion of a dedicated chapter addressing Dalit issues in the periodic plan while Bamdev Gautam argued that development endeavours reliant on bulldozing operations would ultimately end with catastrophic results.
Sharada Devi Bhatta, Singha Bahadur Bishwakarma and Committee Secretary Rojnath Pandey, among others, stressed the drafting of the plan be in line with the spirit to meet the SDGs.
NPC Vice-Chairman Min Bahadur Shrestha stated that prosperity was unachievable in the absence of social justice and good governance and these issues will be incorporated with special priorities in the 16th Plan. He pledged to incorporate the voices of Committee members in the Plan.
