- Wednesday, 18 December 2024
Patan (Lalitpur), June 3: Transport services have been fully operational on Kanti Highway from today. The highway was closed for vehicular traffic from March 14 for carrying out repair and maintenance.
Kantilokpath Project Information Officer and Engineer RavindraMaharjan informed that the road has been repaired and the transport service has been operational from today.
“Cliff cutting works to expand the road has been completed in the narrow place of Karkibas from Ward No 3, Bagmati Rural Municipality of Lalitpur to Chhapeli. Similarly, the work has also been completed in Kalche area, in some places where there is a single lane towards Lalitpur, the road expansion bid is yet to be completed due to lack of budget this year.
However, the rest of the work will be completed by next year. Despite some hindrances in proper completion of the extension works, Kantilokpath is now fully operational for vehicular movement.”
It has been 67 years since the construction of this road, which is considered suitable and short in terms of distance, to connect Kathmandu with Hetauda.
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Two reports presented before lower house
Kathmandu, June 3: Two separate reports have been presented before the House of Representatives (HoR).
In a meeting of the lower house of the Federal Parliament today, Minister for Communications and Information Technology Rekha Sharma, presented the “Annual Report of the Government of Nepal, Fiscal Year 2079-80BS”. She tabled the report on behalf of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’.
Similarly, Ramhari Khatiwada, the President of the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee, presented the committee’s report relating to the “Constitutional Council (Duties, Functions, Powers and Procedures) (first amendment) Bill-2081 BS”.
Presenting the report, President Khatiwada briefed the House about the need to bring the bill and its relevancy. As he said, once the bill gets endorsed by the House, the appointments in the constitutional bodies will take place based on qualifications and competency instead of political sharing.
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Dalit Development Authority is for protection, promotion of rights of Dalit community: PM
Kathmandu, June 3: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ has said that a provision has been made for the Dalit Development Authority in the policies and programmes, and the budget for the upcoming fiscal year for the protection and promotion of the constitutional and statutory rights of the Dalit community.
The PM said this while addressing an interaction entitled ‘Declaration of Nation Free of Untouchability: Opportunities, Implementation and Challenges’, organized in the context of the National Day for the Elimination of Caste Discrimination and Untouchability here today.
On the occasion, Prime Minister Dahal expressed the government’s commitment to ensuring the rights of the Dalit community.
“Programme and budget have been managed for operating the ‘poor and meritorious scholarship scheme’ for encouraging the Dalit students to study technical education, as well as for running the ‘artisan entrepreneurship special programme’ in all seven provinces for modernizing and commercialization of the traditional skills, knowledge and profession of the Dalit community,” he added.
Pointing out the need of setting up the ‘untouchability watch and monitoring mechanism’ at all the three tiers of the State for banishing the practice of untouchability, the Prime Minister stressed on the need of the State and its agencies presenting themselves in a responsible manner for the effective implementation of the constitutional rights and privileges of the Dalit community that has been suffering from oppression and exploitation. He directed all the responsible State strata and agencies to implement in an effective manner the laws against untouchability, as the acts like untouchability and caste discrimination are punishable by law as serious social crime.
PM Dahal called on all the three tiers of the government to be responsible for the effective implementation of the untouchability-free nation declaration. “I make a special appeal to all the three tiers of the government to develop Dalit empowerment programmes in their policy and programmes, and budget, and to effectively implement the Act against Untouchamility,” he added.
The head of the government emphasized on the State providing special rights along with compensation for upholding the political, economic, social, cultural rights and equality and for the overall development and progress of the Dalit community while freeing them of the evil of untouchability and caste-based discrimination. According to him, the foundation of reparation for the injustices done by the state apparatus in the past and of equality can be built only through the process of positive discrimination.
On the occasion, Prime Minister Dahal released ‘Mero Jeevan Ra Sangharsha (My Life and Struggle)’, a book based on the life and works of Province Chief Tilak Pariyar, a fighter of the communist movement and a leading personality in the country’s Dalit movement.
Stating that in the past the state authority had denied the Dalit community of their political, economic, social, cultural rights in all aspects of their life by making discriminatory policies and laws, PM Dahal acknowledged that compared to other communities, the Dalit community is backwards in all sectors of social life.
As he said, he has been consistently stressing on adoption of a policy of special rights to the Dalit community in all the state organs, sectors and agencies as well as in the overall sectors of the social life.
The PM also recalled that he had continuously struggled within the party saying special rights, along with additional rights in the proportional representation, should be given to the Dalit community as compensation with the objective of their development at a par with other communities, as the self-dignity of the Dalit community has been undermined. He reiterated that this topic of providing special rights to the Dalits has been largely established of late.
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Separate uniform for immigration employees
Kathmandu, June 3: Provision has been made for having separate uniform for employees of different 15 offices under the Ministry of Home Affairs, including the Department of Immigration (DoI).
With the approval of the ministerial decision taken on May 29, the Department has arranged for a separate uniform. According to the Department, a separate dress code has been recommended for the purpose of identifying the employees working in immigration.
The Department said that since it is difficult to distinguish between the Immigration staff and the staff of other agencies, a separate dress code has been arranged in coordination with the concerned bodies.
The Ministry of Home Affairs approved the uniform of the employees recommended by the Immigration Department. Home Secretary Eknarayan Aryal said that with the approval of the Home Minister’s decision, the employees at the Department and all its subordinate bodies must wear the prescribed uniform.
According to the Home Ministry, it has made such arrangements for the immigration officers after Aryal suggested that the employees working at the airport and immigration a different uniform than the worn by the civil servants.
Secretary Aryal said that the Ministry of Home Affairs is moving forward with various reform plans for the Immigration Department.
Gurung doubts achievement of revenue collection target
Kathmandu, June 3: Nepali Congress (NC) Vice President and lawmaker Dhanraj Gurung has expressed his doubt over the achievement of the government target of revenue collections in the upcoming fiscal year.
Delivering his views during the general deliberations on the estimations of the government income (revenue) and expenditure in the fiscal year 2081-82 BS (2024-25) in a meeting of the House of Representatives (HoR) today, the lawmaker expressed his doubt that revenue collections in the next year would meet the target of over Rs 1,260 billion.
He advised the government to implement the announcement to promote cannabis farming for medicinal use with the help of legal instruments.
As he said, the farming of cannabis for medical use is likely to lead the revenue collection of Rs two billion annually. He also pressed an idea for branding the homemade products to contribute to the revenue collection.
According to him, there are possibilities of earning additional Rs two billion through the commercial farming of 736 varieties of herbs found in Nepal.
Lawmaker Gurung advised the government to focus on the promotion of religious tourism as well.
As he said, new sources of production should be explored to address the deficit budget. Underlining the need for effective implementation of the budget, he said a realistic approach is needed to assess the budget and its implementation aspect.
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Government’s annual report presented in upper house
Kathmandu, June 3: The government has presented the Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2079-80 BS (2022-23) in the National Assembly, the upper house of the Federal Parliament, today.
The report has been presented in the upper house in accordance with Article 53 of the Constitution of Nepal.
Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Rekha Sharma, tabled the report on behalf of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’.
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Fiscal discipline utmost in budget implementation: MP Panta
Kathmandu, June 3: Lawmaker Raghuji Panta has stressed on fiscal discipline to implement the budget.
Taking part in the general discussion on the annual estimation of revenue and expenditure for fiscal year 2024-25 in the House of Representative (HoR) today, UML leader Panta wondered what would be the next step to implement the budget, if the targeted revenue was not collected.
He argued that there were some contrary issues in the budget, saying budget allocation was decreasing in the agriculture sector but the Finance Minister has announced the agriculture promotion package in the budget.
Lawmaker Panta suggested the Finance Minister to be more practical in the budget implementation process.
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Budget receives mixed reactions from lawmakers
Kathmandu, June 3: Lawmakers have given mixed reactions over the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
Taking part in general deliberations on the estimations of the government’s income and expenditure for the fiscal year 2081-82 BS (2024-25) in a meeting of the House of Representatives today, Ashok Kumar Chaudhary of Rastriya Swatantra Party said the budget is not realistic. Accusing the government of overlooking the sports sector in the budget speech, he demanded a substantive approach to promote the agricultural sector.
According to Sher Bahadur Kunwar of CPN (Unified Socialist), the budget, introduced amid an economic slowdown, is expected to encounter implementation challenges. “On one hand, the capital deficit persists, while on the other, the capital flight looms large. Our primary focus should be on managing the capital crisis.”
Gyan Bahadur Shahi of Rastriya Prajatantra Party said the budget is expected to focus more on job creation and the development of the agriculture sector.
He proposed to implement a separate fiscal year for the mountain region as only two months Baisakh (April-May) and Jeth (May-June) are favorable for undertaking development endeavors in the region.
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SAARC journalists observe RSS’ Republic Day Photo Exhibition
Kathmandu, June 3: Journalists from India and Bangladesh, who are visiting Nepal along with the officials of South Asian Regional Cooperation Association (SAARC) journalists’ organization, SAARC Journalist Forum, today observed a photo exhibition at the RSS central office today.
The photo exhibition titled ‘Achievements of the Republic: Infrastructure for Prosperity’, was organized by Rastriya Samachar Samiti (RSS) on the occasion of the Republic Day.
The SAARC journalists who were in Kathmandu to participate in the First International Mother Tongue Conference organized in Kathmandu observed the photo exhibition.
President of the Forum Raju Lama (Nepal), General Secretary Mohammad Abdur Rahman (Bangladesh) and Shashi Bhushan (Bihar-Convenor, India), Nripendra Lal Shrestha, President of Newa: Journalists Rashtriya Dabu, and other journalists observed the photo exhibition.
The photos range from energy, airport, tourism, roads, bridges, reconstructed heritages, postal highway, Mulpani Cricket Ground, Kathmandu-Madhes express way, Sunkoshi-Marin diversion multi-purpose project, 4G service expansion, national pride projects.
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NA members air mixed views on budget
Kathmandu, June 3: Members of the National Assembly (NA) have insisted on an effective implementation of the budget for the fiscal year 2081-82 BS (2024-25).
Airing their views during the general deliberations on the estimations of the government’s income and expenditure for the upcoming fiscal year today, Kamala Panta said the implementation of the budget is challenging when it is warranted to revive the economy finding ways to address the economic crisis.
Questioning over the exclusion of the matters about observing the year 2024 as a tourism year, the lawmaker said she wanted to be clear whether the government moved back from its commitments regarding the celebrations of the tourism year.
Maya Prasad Sharma said the budget suggests a realistic approach. “The policies, programmes, and the budget speech for the upcoming fiscal year are capable of building a vibrant atmosphere,” hoping for effective implementation.
Sharada Devi Bhatta said the budget to some extent is balanced and suggests vibrancy. “Budget should be civic-centered,” she said, welcoming the new budget.
Jayantidevi Rai said the budget is principally seen as highly positive, but the implementation side is challenging. Announcements to promote investment in agriculture and domestic production are encouraging, she said.
Budget ambitious, challenges in implementation
Upper house member Puja Chaudhary termed the budget an ambitious one. “The budget is much more ambitious,” she said drawing the government to increase employees’ payroll as well bearing in mind the increasing price rise.
However, Tul Prasad Bishwakarma said the budget this time has been able to raise hope among the people more than the previous one.
Though the government’s announcement to observe the upcoming decade as the decade for investment in the agricultural sector, the budget size for the agricultural sector in the next fiscal year reduced, he said. He was of the opinion that the budget should gradually minimize the size of foreign debt.
Anjan Shakya said the budget is overall balanced and realistic. Questioning about potential sources for managing capital for the private sector, she said banks and financial institutions are unable to expand loan facilities for the private sector due to various policy-level issues.
Nar Bahadur Bist called for implementing the commitments to promoting cannabis farming for medicinal use with the help of a law.
Padam Bahadur Pariyar said that overall the budget has addressed all sectors while Sonam Geljen Sherpa and Gomadevi Timilsina said though the budget is people-centered, challenges for its implementation loom large.
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