President Ram Baran Yadav on Wednesday unveiled ‘Policies and Programmes’ for the next fiscal year at the Parliament.

Addressing parliamentarians and other dignitaries, the President said: “The budget of the next fiscal year will focus on reconstruction, energy sector, development of physical infrastructure, commercialisation of agriculture, industrial development, tourism promotion, employment generation and social development.” The policies and programmes announced by the President work as a guiding tool for the government to frame the annual budget. In other words, Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat will prepare the budget for Fiscal Year 2015-16 by referring to announcement made today by the President.

 READ ALSO: Prez presents govt’s policies and programmes

Agriculture

• Collective, cooperative and contract farming to be promoted, with emphasis on specialisation and commercialisation of agriculture
• 12 tarai districts to be declared special pocket zones for paddy production
• Soil acidity problem to be addressed by providing grants to companies willing to establish agricultural lime factories
• Emphasis to be laid on increasing production and installation of cold storage facilities to substitute imports of fruits and vegetables
• Subsidies and grants to be extended to attract youths to commercial farming
• Use of organic fertiliser to be promoted
• Special programmes to promote production of traditional food items to be introduced

Aviation

• Nepal’s aviation safety standards to be made compatible with international standards considering aviation safety interest of International Civil Aviation Organisation
• Capacity, services and facilities of Tribhuvan International Airport to be upgraded
• Domestic air service companies to be encouraged to shift their bases outside of Kathmandu to minimise air traffic at TIA
• One airfield to be established in each remote hilly district upon conducting feasibility study
• Process of bringing in strategic partners at Nepal Airlines Corporation to be initiated
• Construction of Second International Airport at Nijgadh, Bara to be initiated
• Pending construction works at various airports to be completed
• Domestic airports to be categorised based on physical infrastructure, air traffic density and future business possibilities

Economic Policies

• Concepts of public-private partnership and cooperatives and community-based people’s participation to be pursued to revive the economy
• Vision 2030 to be formulated and implemented to turn Nepal into middle-income state by 2030
• Policy of ‘One Family, One Cooperative Member’ to be introduced
• Policy to be introduced to utilise capital and skills of non-resident Nepalis for economic and social development of the country
• Laws to be formulated and implemented to resolve problems related to land acquisition and compensation to facilitate infrastructure development
• Youth Vision-2025 to be implemented
• Timely amendments to be made to the Company Act, Quality and Metrology Act and Mine Act

Employment

• Professional, employment-oriented and leadership-development trainings of both long and short duration to be extended to youths to make them self-reliant
• Skills training to be offered to youths of earthquake affected regions to provide impetus to reconstruction works
• Vocational skill development training to be provided to widows and girls affected by the earthquake
• Micro-enterprise development programme to be extended
• Works to be initiated for establishment of Labour Bank

Energy

• Private sector to be allowed to build transmission lines under build-and-transfer model
• Master plan for inter-country transmission line to be prepared
• Construction of Budhigandaki Hydropower Project to be initiated
• A detailed project report for Nalsinghgad Hydropower Project to be prepared
• Dry season load-shedding to be reduced to maximum eight hours a day
• Electricity produced by sugar mills to be utilised during dry seasons
• Nepal Electricity Authority to be restructured

Investment

• One-stop service centre to be established to facilitate domestic and foreign investors
• Public and private investments to be mobilised to complete reconstruction works, with use of indigenous technology and raw materials

Irrigation

• Emphasis to be laid on construction of inter-watershed, water transfer and reservoir-based multi-purpose projects to provide round-the-year irrigation service
• Detailed study and project proposals of Sunkoshi-Kamala, Sunkoshi-Marin, Kali Gandaki-Tinau, Thuligad-Kailali and Kankai high-dam projects to be prepared
• Continuity to be given to Karnali and Seti Irrigation Development Programme and third phase of the Mahakali Irrigation Project
• Sikta, Rani Jamara Kulariya and Babai irrigation projects to be completed soon
• Continuity to be given to construction of Bheri Corridor Multipurpose Development Programme and Bheri-Babai Diversion Project

Public Finance Management

• Contribution-based pension system to be introduced for newly appointed civil servants, teachers, and army, police and armed police personnel
• Budget to be allocated to projects that have completed detailed feasibility study
• Project implementation capacity to be enhanced through application of performance-based incentive system

Roads and Transport

• District headquarters of Humla and Dolpa to be connected with national roads network
• Construction works of mid-hill highway, Seti-Mahakali highway and Kaligandaki, Koshi and Karnali corridors to be expedited
• Feasibility studies of Bheri and Rapti corridors to be conducted
• Narayanghat-Mugling road segment to be upgraded
• Construction of Kathmandu-Tarai/Madhes Expressway to be initiated
• Construction work of Postal Highway and bridges on it to be completed soon
• Continuity to be given to expanding business routes such as Rani-Itahari-Dharan, Birgunj-Pathlaiya, Belhiya-Butwal, Kohalpur-Nepalgunj and Jatahi-Janakpur-Dhalkebar into six lanes
• Detailed project reports of Thankot-Nagdhunga tunnel-way and Butwal-Dobhan tunnel-way to be prepared
• Lamosangu-Jiri road to be upgraded
• Construction of Bardibas-Jaleshwar road to be initiated upon preparation of detailed project report
• Construction works of greater Janakpur ring road to be initiated
• Feasibility studies for metro-rail, mono-rail, ropeway, cable car and waterway to be carried out

Trade

• New industrial zones and corridors to be developed
• Infrastructure for proposed special economic zones at Simara and Panchkhaal to be developed
• Construction of dry port at Larcha of Sindhupalchowk to be completed
• Construction works at dry port in Timure of Rasuwa to be initiated
• Construction of container freight station and international-standard trade exhibition centre to begin at Chobhar of Kathmandu
• List of goods and services in Nepal Trade Integration Strategy 2010 to be revised
• Goods that reflect Nepali art and culture to be promoted abroad
• Timely review to be made to export cash incentive programme

Urban Development

• Master plan on Pokhara Valley Development to be framed and implemented
• Continuity to be given to model city development programme in 12 places, including 10 in Pyuthan, Surkhet and along the mid-hill highway
• Integrated urban infrastructure development programme to be launched in Dhangadi, Attariya, Bhimdatta and Jhalari municipalities of the far-western region
• Master-plan on Smart City to be formulated for Kathmandu Valley, Lumbini, Nijgadh and other districts hard-hit by earthquakes
• Earthquake-resilient green cities to be developed
• Damak and Kohalpur to be developed as green municipalities

OTHERS

• ‘Cooperative Saving Safety Fund’ and ‘Cooperative Loan Investment Safety Fund’ to be established
• Unified social security law to be framed and unified social security programme to be launched
• National Health Insurance Programme to be expanded to raise access of people to health services
• Public enterprises of similar nature to be merged
• Land of public enterprises not in operation to be utilised for public interest
• Detailed study on headworks and tunnel construction at the site of Melamchi Drinking Water Project to be conducted to supply additional 340 million litres of water per day to Kathmandu Valley from Yangri and Larke rivers
• Optical fibre network to be extended nationwide
• Broadband internet facility to be introduced in earthquake-affected districts
• Feasibility study of installing Nepal’s own satellite to be concluded
• Private sector to be encouraged to produce bio-diesel