Cost cutting measures being taken in medals, decorations

Kathmandu, July 9: On average, the Government of Nepal spends over Rs. 180 million every year to mint national orders, decorations and medals. 

The federal government bestowed honours upon 1,277 individuals on April 14, 2022 and in doing so, spent Rs. 200 million in making the medallions, according to the Decoration Section of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA). This included 633 awardees who had been announced in 2019 and 594 who had been announced in 2020 but had not been laurelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Nepal instituted its present civilian awards, namely Nepal Ratna, Rastra Gaurav, Maha Ujjwal Rastra Deep, Sukirtimaya Rastra Deep and Suprasiddha Prabal Jana Sewa Shree, among many others, in 2067 BS (2010/11 AD) after the nation declared itself a federal republic. 

In the last 10 years, 3,917 people have been honoured and more than Rs. 600 million has been spent on the decorations, as per the data provided by the MoHA.

An amount that cannot be sustained as the number of those decorated balloons every year, as shown by the government’s own decision of June 28 to reduce the quantity of gold used in the medals. Joint Secretary and Spokesperson for the Home Ministry Fanindra Mani Pokharel said that the decision was taken to reduce the costs of the decorations.

Currently, 175 grams of gold is used to make one Nepal Ratna medal, the highest civilian award of the country. As per the latest decision, that number will nearly be halved with only 90 grams of gold being used. In addition, 425 grams of silver and 42 grams of diamond are also used in the medal. When all is said and done, each Nepal Ratna costs around Rs. 2.5 million to make. Former Prime Minister and former leader of the Nepali Congress Krishna Prasad Bhattarai was given this honour posthumously this year.

Similarly, the Rastra Gaurav will now only have 30 grams of gold, 15 grams less than the 45 grams it contained till this year. Former Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal was one of the two persons awarded with this in 2022.

The weight of gold in Maha Ujjwal Rastra Deep first and second class has been reduced from 130 grams to 85 grams and from 90 grams to 60 grams respectively.

Likewise, 30 grams of gold will now be used in the Sukirtimaya Rastra Deep Class III, down from the previous 45 grams, and 20 grams will be used in Sukirtimaya Rastra Deep Class IV, reduced from 35 grams. 

The amount of gold to be used in the Sukirtimaya Rastra Deep has, however, not been changed and remains at six grams.  

In the same way, 120 grams of gold used to be used in the first class Vibhushan. This will now be reduced to 84 grams. For the second class, the weight has been reduced from 85 grams to 59 grams and for the third class, from 35 grams to 25 grams. 

The Suprasiddha Prabal Janasewa Shree First Class will no longer contain 120 grams of gold and will only have 84 grams now and the second and third classes will only have 59 grams (as opposed to 85 grams till this year) and 25 grams (as opposed to 35 grams) respectively.

Every year, the government announces the personalities, ideally of repute and those who have contributed to the nation, to receive the orders and decorations on the occasion of Nepal’s Constitution Day on the Nepali date of Asoj 3.

“In the past, the government could afford to design medals with a larger amount of gold because fewer people used to be conferred,” Pokharel said.

Since that is no longer the case, the quantity of the precious metal is now being reduced, by amending the relevant schedules of the Decorations Rules 2008, to control the spiralling costs of the national honours.

Rajendra Singh Bhandari, retired Additional Inspector General of Nepal Police, felt that the costs could be brought down by specifying a limit on the number of people that could be awarded every year in the Decoration Rules.

The government had done exactly that in July 2020 and had published in the Nepal Gazette that no more than 202 people would be honoured at a time. Of them, only one person would receive the Nepal Ratna and only two would receive the Rastra Gaurav.

However, in just three months, the government amended the Rules again and removed the limit.