KATHMANDU: The government has fixed the retail prices of 96 different drugs, including cancer medicines, and decided to order all the pharmacies to display the price list.

According to Minister for Information and Communications Minendra Rijal, who is also the government spokesperson, today’s Cabinet meeting decided to fix the retail prices of 18 commonly used medicines as well as 78 other medicines used for different diseases in the wake of complaints that pharmacies were charging a lot for the said medicines. The Ministry of Health and Population has been asked to implement the decision, said Rijal. Minister for General Administration Lalbabu Pandit said that the Cabinet today also decided to import 20,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser from India.

In yet another decision, the government has decided to appoint Gopal Basnet as executive director of Budhi Gandaki Hydro Power Project and to hand over the government-owned conference hall and guest house in Biratnagar to Biratnagar Sub-Metropolitan City, said Pandit.

The ownership of the land registered in the name of former king Birendra and former queen Aisworya in four districts — Lalitpur, Sindhupalchowk, Kaski and Kathmandu — will to be transferred in the name of Nepal Trust, said Minister Rijal.

He said that the bank account named ‘HM treasury’ in the Standard Chartered bank would also be transferred to Nepal Trust.

The government has also decided to provide responsibility of the chairmanship of Nepal Airlines Corporation to the secretary of Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Suresh Man Shrestha. Rijal added that today’s Cabinet decided to appoint Joint Secretary Gyani Yadav of the Ministry of Education as a member of Teachers’ Service Commission.

The Cabinet also decided to provide Rs 40,000 to each Supreme Court judge every month as accommodation facility.

Over 3 lakh households below poverty line

KATHMANDU: The Poor Household Support Co-ordination Board of the Ministry of Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation on Monday said out of 1.24 million households in 25 districts, 356,418 households were below the poverty line.

According to Chintan Poudel, Executive Vice-Chairman of the Poor Household Support Co-ordination Board, status of the 150,958 households could not be determined due to incomplete details they furnished.

He said the Board would collect their details and find out whether they were below the poverty line.