KATHMANDU, APRIL 14

The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu gifted 35 ambulances and 66 school buses to various organizations, spread across different districts of Nepal, and working in the field of health and education respectively, today.

The keys of the vehicles were handed over by Naveen Srivastava, Ambassador of India to Nepal in the presence of Finance Minister Barsha Man Pun. Mayors and Chairpersons of Municipalities and Rural Municipalities of various districts as well as representatives of various beneficiary organisations, political representatives, officials of Government of Nepal, and social workers were also present at the event, according to the press release issued by the Indian Embassy.

Out of the total 101 vehicles gifted today, 2 ambulances were handed over on location in the earthquake-affected Jajarkot and West Rukum districts by the representative of the Embassy of India in the presence of district officials and local residents.

'Government of India has been gifting ambulances and school buses on the occasion of the Independence Day and the Republic Day of India for 3 decades to various beneficiary organizations in different parts of Nepal, giving high priority to Nepal's health and education sectors,' the embassy said.

During the event the Ambassador stated that this has been one of the long-standing initiatives of the Government of India under the Nepal-India Development Partnership to bolster the efforts of the Government of Nepal to strengthen its infrastructure in health and education sectors. Ambassador further highlighted that this is a part of the robust and strong development partnership between India and Nepal and has a geographical spread throughout Nepal, touching people's lives and bringing out tangible progress in the development journey of Nepal, as per the statement.

Similarly, Finance Minister Pun, in his remarks, appreciated Government of India's various ongoing developmental projects in Nepal and expressed that these will continue to strengthen people-to-people connectivity and bilateral relations between the two countries. He emphasized that this flagship programme is very beneficial for the people of Nepal, it stated.

Since 1994, Government of India has gifted 1009 ambulances and 300 school buses across Nepal, including those gifted today. It is part of Government of India's continued support for the efforts of Nepal to strengthen its health and education facilities and to facilitate easy physical access to these services, the Indian Embassy added.