KATHMANDU, MAY 24
President Bidhya Devi Bhandari presented the government's policies and programmes for the fiscal 2022-23 in the Parliament today.
Addressing a joint meeting of both the Houses of the Parliament, President Bhandari said the government would launch policies to spur economic growth, strengthen federalism, pursue economic diplomacy, and expand the reach of high speed internet across the country.
She said the government would foster policies to spur domestic production, import replacement, export promotion, employment generation, and high economic growth.
The president said all Nepalis should join hands to implement the government's policies and programmes.
The government will also mobilise the country's diplomats to expand trade, promote tourism, and attract investment.
The government will bring budget on May 29 based on these policies and programmes.
The government has also said that it would provide voting rights to Nepalis living abroad.
After the president's address, CPN-UML leader Pradeep Kumar Gyawali told mediapersons on the premises of the Parliament that the country was in a bad shape, but the government's policies and programmes did not offer any solution to the problems the country was facing.
"Even the ruling parties' lawmakers don't support the government's policies and programmes. Did you hear any ruling party's lawmakers clapping in support of the policies?" he said.
Highlights
• Grants to be provided to provinces and local governments on the basis of objective grounds
• Income earned by Nepali migrant workers abroad and their skills to be utilised for the purpose of generating employment in the country
• Budget not to be allocated for projects that have not been recommended by the National Planning Commission
• Tax system to be made transparent and investment friendly
• Social networking sites to come under tax net
• Efforts to be made to provide jobs to Nepali workforce and to send Nepali migrant workers to attractive labour destinations
• Priorities to be given to growth of production, infrastructure development, sustainable development, and eradication of poverty.
• Agriculture, transport, and tourism to be made the backbone of economic growth
• All development projects except national pride projects and mega transformative projects shall be carried out by provinces
• Foreign assistance to be used in the formation of capital
• Financial transaction to be done through electronic methods
• Special programmes to be launched to revive factories that had produced goods in the past but currently not operating for various reasons
• Credit rating to be completed
• Cooperatives with similar objectives and nature of work to be merged
• Identity cards to be given to poor families
• Mountainous and remote areas to be developed as special areas
• Special policy to be adopted to produce enough agro products that are currently being imported from foreign countries
• Policy to be adopted to protect farmers
• Irrigation to be ensured for 22,200 hectare land
• Bheri-Babai River Diversion and Sunkoshi-Marin Diversion projects to be completed soon
• Levels of glacial lakes to be reduced in Manang, Sankhuwasabha, and Solukhumbu
• Government properties to be recorded
• Industry-friendly policies to be adopted and private sector to be encouraged
• Made in Nepal and Make in Nepal policy to be promoted
• Special provision to be made to reduce foreign trade deficit
• Kathmandu-Tarai fast track to be completed soon
• Remaining work of Madan Bhandari Road Project to be completed soon
• Feasibility study of Kathmandu-Rasuwa railway service to be completed
• Telemedicine to be launched in hospitals of remote areas
• Land administration to be fully digitised
• New terminals to be built in some Tarai airports
• Remaining issues of boundary to be resolved on the basis of historical treaties, maps, facts, and evidence
• Economic diplomacy to be pursued
• Non-resident Nepalis to get digital identity cards
• Necessary provisions to be made to implement the schedules of the constitution
A version of this article appears in the print on May 25, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
