KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 19 The parliamentary party of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) today decided not to take salary for the month of Kartik (mid-October to mid-November) and deposit the same in the government’s COVID-19 Prevention, Control and Treatment Fund. The party decided to do so after the government’s move to provide Dashain allowance to lawmakers drew flak from the general public and civil society members. NCP Whip in the National Assembly Khim Lal Bhattarai said NCP lawmakers in both the houses of the parliament decided to deposit one month’s salary in the state coffers. “The government has deposited Dashain allowance in lawmakers’ bank accounts. Since returning the allowance to the government was not possible, we have permitted the government to deposit our next month’s salary in the state coffers,” he said. He added that NCP lawmakers were not aware that the government would provide Dashain allowance to them. The NCP has 53 members in the National Assembly and 173 members in the House of Representatives. The Nepali Congress and the Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal have condemned the government’s decision to provide Dashain allowance to lawmakers. They have decided to return their lawmakers’ Dashain allowance to the government. NC Parliamentary Party issued a press release saying the government’s decision to provide Dashain allowance to people’s representatives at a time when the country was facing a grim economic situation and hardship due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was ill conceived. The NC Parliamentary Party also decided to deposit Rs 4,320,810 (the total Dashain allowance provided to its 63 lawmakers in the HoR) to the COVID-19 Prevention, Control and Treatment Fund. JSP-N Chair Upendra Yadav told THT that the government should rescind its decision to provide Dashain allowance to lawmakers and if it did not do so, then the party’s 34 HoR lawmakers would return their Dashain allowance to the government. Meanwhile, the federal government also decided that all Cabinet members’ would deposit their Dashain allowance to the COVID-19 Prevention, Control and Treatment Fund. Minister of Communications and Information Technology Parvat Gurung, who is also the government spokesperson, said at a press briefing here today that the Cabinet decided to deposit Dashain allowance of all Cabinet members in COVID-19 Fund to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to help in the treatment of COVID patients. Gurung added that the federal government had also requested provincial and local governments to donate their office bearers’ Dashain allowance to COVID-19 Prevention, Control and Treatment Fund. The minister also appealed to the general public not to celebrate Dashain with fanfare and limit the celebration to their families, keeping in mind the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.