Kathmandu, May 14

The National Human Rights Human Commission urged the government to adopt rights-oriented approach while formulating the budget for the upcoming fiscal 2020-21.

Stating that the unprecedented situation created by the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to basic human rights of citizens being curtailed this year, the NHRC stressed the need to incorporate these issues in the new fiscal budget.

“Only a rights-oriented budget will ensure the right to dignified life, right to health, right to employment, farmers’ rights, reliable disaster risk reduction and management and the rights enshrined in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to which Nepal is a party,” read a press release issued by the National Human Rights Commission.

The NHRC called on the government to fulfil its duty of safeguarding fundamental rights of citizens by addressing these core rights issues through the fiscal budget. “It is very urgent to make proper arrangements of fertilisers, seeds, agricultural inputs, and production, storage and marketing of agri-products to assist farmers in carrying on with agricultural work without interruption,” it suggested.

The NHRC said the fiscal budget should also resolve the problem of unemployment and guarantee employment opportunities to Nepali migrant workers returning home from foreign countries after being rendered jobless amid the COV- ID-19 pandemic.

“The new fiscal budget has to be formulated in such a manner as to bring about improvement in living standards of women, children, senior citizens, Dalits, differently-abled persons, sexual and gender minorities, and marginalised and backward people or groups by mainstreaming their human rights to government programmes and services,” the NHRC suggested.

The rights body urged the government to allocate budget for establishment of at least one wellequipped 1,000-bed hospital in each province and 100-bed hospital in each local level by coordination among all three tiers of government.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on May 15, 2020 of The Himalayan Times.