16th Periodic Plan to have dedicated chapter for SDGs

Kathmandu, Aug 17: The 16th Periodic Plan is to feature a separate chapter about issues concerning the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This was informed during a meeting of the Sustainable Development and Good Governance, the National Assembly today.

The approach paper of the 16th Plan has been already drafted and currently, the document is under discussions. Amidst this, the Committee’s today meeting discussed it connecting 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 be considered in 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 a lead for making such endevours productive. Lawmaker Kamala Pant was of the view 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 about 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 was of the opinion of localization of SDGs through the 16th Plan.

Bhuwan Bahadur Sunar advocated for the inclusion of a dedicated chapter addressing Dalit issues in the Plan while Bamdev Gautam argued that development endeavours reliant on bulldozing operations would ultimately end with catastrophic results. Sharada Devi Bhatta, Singha Bahadur Bishwakarm and Committee Secretary Dr Rojnath Pandey, among others stressed the drafting of the Plan be in line with the spirit to meet the SDGs. NPC vice chair Min Bahadur Shrestha stated that prosperity was unachievable in absence of social justice and good governance and these issues would be incorporated with special priorities in the 16th Plan. He pledged to incorporate the voices of Committee members in the Plan.