Residents of Kathmandu were in for a surprise on Friday as Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, ministers, police and army officials stepped out on the streets with brooms in their hands to launch the ambitious National Volunteer Campaign. However, delight quickly turned into frustration when discrepancies in the campaign budget were discovered. While the proposed budget for the week long program is Rs 20 million, deeper inspection reveals that materials for the campaign were purchased at much higher prices than their actual market rate. For instance, each mask cost Rs 35 and each pair gloves was priced at Rs 50.
See budget:
| S.N | Description | Quantity | Rate | Total | Remarks |
| 1.1 | Cleaning utilities | 20000 | 20,00,000 | Kathmandu Metropolitan City | |
| 1.2 | Masks | 50000 | 35 | 17,50,000 | Nepal Government |
| 1.3 | Gloves | 50000 | 50 | 25,00,000 | Nepal Government |
| 1.4 | Pamphlets | 350000 | 1.50 | 5,25,000 | Nepal Government |
| 1.5 | Plastic bag free campaign | 10,00,000 | Nepal Government | ||
| 1.6 | Cloth bag | 100000 | 50 | 50,00,000 | Nepal Government |
| 1.7 | Production/broadcast/ publication of media messages | 10,000,000 | Nepal Government | ||
| 1.8 | Volunteer mobilisation expense | 56,25,000 | Nepal Government | ||
1.9 | Transportation management and fuel | Kathmandu Metropolitan City | |||
| Total | 1,94,00,000 | ||||
| Nepal Government | 1,74,00,000 | ||||
| Kathmandu Metropolitan City | 20,00,0000 | ||||
People won't question the 20 million if they see visible differences in Kathmandu's sanitary standards. But if the campaign fails then each penny spent will be highly scrutinised. Also a week long cleaning spree is not the long term solution to the city's problem. So the government should focus its attention on raising awareness and giving continuity to successful efforts such as fining those who litter public places.
