March 14: The government has not included any representatives from the private sector in the Revenue Advisory Development Committee.

The committee plays a vital role in shaping the government’s policy on budget and tax rate.

Failure to include representative from the private sector in the committee has worried stakeholders who believe that the recommendations made by the committee would now be limited to paper.

The committee which falls under the Ministry of Finance used to be actively involved in forming government policies. Recently, the committee was made an autonomous body by the government. There is also a provision to include private sector in the committee.

Former Secretary Mahesh Dahal currrently leads the committee while former Joint Secretary Nirmalhari Adhikari is its member. The remuneration of the chairman and member of the committee was published in Nepal Gazette as well. Salary of the committee chairman and member has been fixed at Rs 65,000 and Rs 60,000 respectively. Other allowances provided to them will be equivalent to that of a first-class government official.

The committee was formed on the initiative of former Finance Minister Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada in accordance to the Development Committee Act. The Ministry of Law had put on hold the formation of the committee since a long time arguing that the Ministry of Finance had wanted to form this committee to make political appointments.

According to an official of law ministry, this committee was formed on the condition of having representation from the private sector. “Alhough the committee is an autonomous body, it is just another sub–committee of MoF without the representation of the private sector,” said Rajendra Malla, senior vice-president of Nepal Chamber of Commerce. “How can we be assured that our recommendations to form policies will be incorporated without our participating?” he questioned.