Kathmandu, June 23

Lawmakers have urged the government to expand the scale of polymerase chain reaction tests for COVID-19 across the country with special focus on vulnerable groups.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour in the House of Representatives today, lawmakers also called on the government to come up with special package, including tax exemption, for people and the business community severely hit by the coronavirus-induced lockdown and help restore normalcy. They underscored the need to increase the coverage of PCR tests and improve the condition of quarantine facilities amid the rapid spike in COVID-19 cases.

Lawmaker Bimala Nepali drew attention to the poor management at quarantine centres, and rape and sexual abuse of quarantined women.

“Persons suspected of being infected with the virus have been quarantined in cowsheds in various places. This is the height of negligence on the part of the government,” she said.

Lawmaker Min Bahadur Bishwakarma demanded that the government announce a relief package by considering the beginning of the nationwide lockdown as the zero period so as to give respite to financial liabilities.

“The government should decide in such a way that no businessperson is obliged to pay tax and land/house rent from the zero period, as there were no financial transactions,” Bishwakarma proposed, adding that schools should also be barred from collecting fees from students.

Lawmaker Mina Subba alleged that the government had failed to contain the COVID-19 spread. “Incidents such as post-death test for COVID-19 and rape of women in quarantine facilities indicate how the government is handling the present crisis,” she said.

Lawmaker Bhairav Bahadur Singh said the government was not doing enough to conduct tests on people returning from India via land route in a timely manner. “The number of Nepali citizens returning home from India is on the rise, but the government is taking more than 15 days to disclose their PCR test report. Even suspected and vulnerable persons are not being tested.

Therefore, the government should pay proper heed to resolve the problem,” he said.

Lawmaker Man Kumari GC demanded that the government arrange separate quarantine facilities for women to ensure their safety.

Lawmaker Bhimsen Das Pradhan urged the government to announce two public holidays (Saturday and Sunday) a week as the move to ease the lockdown had resulted in increased movement of the general public and vehicles.

Lawmaker Bhary Kumar Shah stressed the need to reduce air fare chargeable to Nepali migrant workers while rescuing and bringing them home from various countries. He also urged the government to ensure easy availability of fertilisers and seeds for farmers during the farming season.

Lawmaker Maheshwar Jung Gahatraj expressed serious concern about the increasing cases of suicide and gender and caste-based violence and appealed to the government to put an end to such crimes.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on June 24, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.