By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Oct. 14: Minister for Home Affairs Ram Bahadur Thapa Badal Tuesday warned the economic and social impact of coronavirus could lead to an escalation in crime in the society.
Addressing a virtual State-level security conference of State 1 from the Ministry, Home Minister Thapa said that new forms of crime were on the rise due to the coronavirus and directed the subordinate bodies to formulate security plans and strategies to minimise the incidents.
Minister Thapa said, "I am confident that today's conference will help us to successfully address new challenges, modify the current security strategy to protect the livelihood of the people and formulate a high-level security plan and strategy."
He said that the incidents of sexual violence and rape had increased in recent times and directed to be vigilant and sensitive about such incidents.
Stating that the government had decided to keep the international border closures unchanged, Home Minister Thapa urged to keep the border control and regulation effective.
He expressed confidence that the process of police integration into the States would now move ahead and the State police would be formed soon as the integration proposal had been endorsed recently after the government passed State Police integration ordinance two weeks ago. Stating that festivals like Dashain and Tihar are approaching , he directed the Chief District Officers (CDOs) to regularly monitor the market and take action to control black marketing and price hike.
Home Minister Thapa also instructed his subordinates to formulate state-level and district-level security plans for the festivals. The State-level security seminar, which has is being conducted annually by the Ministry in all the States, had been stopped for a long time after the outbreak of the coronavirus.
The seminar was also addressed by Chief Minister of State 1 Sherdhan Rai, Minister for Internal Affairs and Law of the same State Hikmat Karki, Home Secretary Maheshwar Neupane, and chiefs of Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and National Investigation Department.
Chief District Officers of 14 districts of State 1 reported on the security situation and other activities in the district.
The security conference was scheduled to be held in April but was postponed due to the impact of the coronavirus.