‘Paving way to register Nepal-made vehicles laudable’

By Nayak Paudel,Kathmandu, Apr. 28: The government has paved the way for the registration of Yatri’s motorcycles and upcoming Nepal-made automobiles in the country in five days after concerns about the inconveniences faced by the users of the Yatri motorcycles were raised on the social media platforms.

Following the concerns in social media, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ on Sunday met with Yatri Motorcycles’ representatives and concerned government authorities.

PM Prachanda then directed the authorities to amend the prevailing laws and add a provision allowing Nepal-made automobiles to be registered at the transport authority at the earliest.

Following the directive, an amendment was made to the Transport Management Procedures Directives, 2003 (2060) by the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) on Wednesday.

Issuing a statement on Thursday, the DoTM informed that its Wednesday’s meeting amended the directive and added two sub-sections in Section 11.

The new provision states that automobiles manufactured or assembled in Nepal will not require a customs declaration for registration and transfer process and will be allowed to register at the concerned transport authority.

The prompt step taken to solve the problem received applause from netizens who lauded the government for being proactive in resolving the problems of people. However, they did not forget to mention that the government was still lagging behind in investing and promoting research, invention and innovation sector.

Earlier, a week ago, the social sites were flooded with complaints about lack of laws to register and promote Nepal-made products after a photo of a Yatri motorcycle being held by a traffic police went viral.

According to Yatri Design Studio Pvt. Ltd., the company designing and manufacturing Yatri’s electric two-wheelers, they have sold 77 motorcycles so far but has suspended manufacturing for the past six months, citing that the vehicles were not allowed to be registered under the prevailing laws which has prevented them from plying the road freely.

“Nepal has many individuals with capabilities, but they lack platform and support. For years, these people with capabilities have been flying abroad in search of better opportunities. Our country is facing loss due to lack of investment in the innovation sector,” said Mahabir Pun, chairperson of National Innovation Centre (NIC).

Pun’s Facebook posts show how the centre has been operating with support and donation from general public and how the government authorities have been failing to provide the support they assured.

Meeting with PM Prachanda, Minister for Education, Science and Technology and National Planning Commission’s vice-chairman among others on Tuesday, Pun had submitted a four-point demand letter and announced a protest from Friday.

Talking to The Rising Nepal, Pun said, “The protest became urgent as even pledged support failed to materialise till date. The demands are neither hard to fulfil nor against the country’s development. The protest will continue until the demands are met. Assurances alone will not be enough.”

Among the four demands, Pun has asked the government to allocate at least one per cent of the total development budget for the innovation sector. 

“There should be a huge investment in innovation, science and technology. At a time when there has been zero investment in these sectors, allocating one per cent of the development budget by the federal as well as provincial governments by creating a fund will be a great step,” Pun added.

Citing that the prevailing Public Procurement Act, 2007 would disallow easy allocation of budget for youths involved in innovation, Pun has demanded that the “Research, Innovation and Invention Operation and Procurement Act” be formulated.

The NIC informed that some of the innovative products they produced also could not be registered for lack of laws. 

“Every sector needs its own department for proper study of present conditions and formulation of effective plans and policies. We need one for the research, innovation and invention sector too,” Pun said. 

He has also demanded strict policies discouraging imported goods and encouraging Nepal-made products alongside providing permission, license, grant and loan to Nepali youths working in the innovation sector.

While the Prime Minister had assured to prioritise innovation, research and invention, Pun said that the protest would continue as they wanted results, not assurances.

“There cannot be a law before something is innovated. However, when innovation takes place, the government should show activeness to promote it, not discourage it,” Pun told The Rising Nepal.