Kathmandu, July 13:

Member of Parliament, Shreemaya Thakali, today stressed the need to utilise the tourism revenue collected in Mustang for the development of the area itself.

Thakali said this while addressing the screening ceremony of a documentary titled Mustang — A world beyond the Himalayas.

“The government collects approximately Rs 44,800 ($ 700) per tourist visiting Mustang as visa charge. But the amount collected from tourists are used in other parts of the country,” she said.

“Lot of changes can be observed if the government invests at least 25 per cent of this revenue in the Mustang region itself,” said Thakali, adding that the government should create Muktinath Development Trust (MDT) and launch programmes for the development of Mustang and its people.

Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) Prithvi Subba Gurung informed

that the government has decided to establish the MDT.

“Policy makers are not much interested in development of the region,” he added.