KATHMANDU, JULY 20
A meeting of the House of Representatives (HoR) today unanimously endorsed the Nepal Engineering Council (First Amendment) Bill, 2019.
Minister of Physical Infrastructure and Transport Mohammad Istiyak Rai had tabled a proposal at the meeting seeking passage of the bill which had originated in the National Assembly.
Earlier, Minister Rai had responded to queries raised during the discussions on the bill along with the report of the Development and Technology Committee. He said the amendment had been made in order to make the related Act brought in 1998 in tune with the time. "So far, there is the provision of persons completing engineering degrees within the country and from abroad to directly enter the engineering profession. Due to this, questions have been raised from time to time regarding the quality of construction works," said the minister.
"Arrangements have been made to administer examination conducted by the Council like in other professions so as to remove such issues," he said, adding that the bill had made the provision for opening branch offices of the Council in all the seven provinces. The Council's office is based only in Kathmandu at present.
Minister Rai said the bill had made the provision for providing online services, adding that the Council was inclusive. He further said the university would only monitor colleges while the Council shall oversee regulations after completion of engineering studies.
Taking part in the discussions on the bill, lawmaker Ganesh Kumar Pahadi said the bill had been brought for discussions only after one and-a-half years and demanded that important bills should not be kept pending at the Business Management Committee. Prem Suwal said, "Unlike, in the past, engineering education has now become accessible to students from a poor economic background as well."
Sarita Kumari Giri called on the government to stop the outflow of a large amount of money to foreign countries for higher education.
Gajendra Bahadur Mahat said the system of licensing engineers would be important while Dibya Mani Rajbhandari expressed concern that a large number of students who have completed engineering in the country were going abroad while only a few of those completing engineering degrees abroad returned to Nepal.
A version of this article appears in the print on July 21, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
