Mahendranagar, October 17:

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ has said that the establishment of a special economic zone in the far-west would usher in the region in the era of progress.

PM Dahal, who arrived here to inaugurate the Far-western Industrial Trade Fair and Kanchanpur Tourism Festival, said feudalism had the most telling effect in the far-west.

Expressing commitment to complete the construction of the Bramhadev-Bhasi road section, which is expected to speed up development activities in the far-west, he said the government would initiate moves for the establishment of a university in the region.

He regretted the loss of life and property in the flooding in mid-September. Prime Minister Dahal said the government would take initiatives to rehabilitate the flood victims and provide them relief.

“At a time when the floods were wreaking havoc in the western part of the nation, I was heading to the United States. I am sorry for that. Now, I will nurse the wounds of the victims,” the Prime Minister said.

Conceding that most of the time of the recently-formed government had been spent on foreign trips, he said, “Now the government will focus on development of the nation.”

President of the FNCCI Kush Kumar Joshi said the government’s programme of economic revolution should begin from the far-west.

I was heading to the US when the western part of the nation was reeling under floods. I am sorry for my move

— Prachanda