Kathmandu, May 9:

The Kathmandu branch of the Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS) has decided to prevent the Red Cross emblem from being misused in the district.

The Red Cross emblem will no longer be seen everywhere except on the Red Cross and the army ambulances, as the NRCS has announced the district free from misuse of Red Cross emblem. “We found out that the emblem was being misused by people everywhere decreasing its real worth,” Sangh Ratna Shakya, minister of NRCS, Kathmandu, told this daily today. The emblem is being used by health workers, dispensary shops and ambulances, giving the humanitarian emblem a commercial appeal, Shakya said. “However, it is only for the use of army rescuers, Red Cross people and their ambulances during disasters and armed revolutions,” he said.

The misuse created obstructions for Red Cross and army people during their rescue operations, Shakya said. “People used the emblem everywhere for any reason and during the real operations rescuers were prohibited to continue their work,” he said referring to the recent Tarai uprising where the Red Cross people and ambulances were prohibited.

Marking the Red Cross day on May 8, the Chief District Officer of Kathmandu and members of NRCS, Kathmandu district chapter declared Kathmandu as an area where no individual or organisation is allowed to use the Red Cross emblem except by the Red Cross and army ambulances.

Shakya said the NRCS had been campaigning for this announcement for six years. “We have persuaded nearly everyone to support us, almost all of them have agreed to give up the inappropriate use,” he further expressed the hope that every sensible person or organisation would support the announcement.