By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Feb. 23: A secretariat meeting of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Saturday failed to make any breakthrough in finalising the implementation of the US-backed grant scheme, Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact Programme in Nepal.
The secretariat meeting held at Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s official residence in Baluwatar was expected to make an important decision on the MCC. But the meeting ended without reaching any conclusion.
Prime Minister Oli’s press advisor and Chief of NCP Publicity Department Surya Thapa said that the secretariat meeting on Saturday concentrated its discussion on the report submitted by the task force on the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) Nepal.
Secretariat member and coordinator of the task force Jhala Nath Khanal presented the details of the report to the party secretariat, Thapa said.
“During the meeting, Khanal presented details of MCC and the meeting was concentrated on the matter,” said Thapa.
The next secretariat meeting would hold an extensive discussion over the MCC. However, the date of next meeting was yet to be finalised, he added.
After a number of the party central committee members raised questions about the importance of MCC, the party had formed a three-member team led by NCP Secretariat member Jhala Nath Khanal to study the grant programme.
The team has Minister of Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali and NCP Standing Committee member Bhim Rawal as members.
Though the team was given 10 days to submit its report, it took almost 20 days to prepare the report.
The task force on Friday concluded that the much-talked-about grant agreement with the United States of America should not be implement as it was agreed upon.
The task force had submitted its report to the chairmen duo KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’.
Coordinator of the task force Khanal had stated that the grant agreement must not be executed in Nepal without changing some of the provisions as it could be counterproductive in for the country.
The MCC agreement was signed by Nepal with US in 2017 and is now waiting parliamentary approval.
The MCA is supposed to bring US$ 500 million which would be used to construct the cross border electricity transmission lines and upgrade the strategic roads.