'All ordinances will be passed'

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Feb. 13: The government has claimed that  all ordinances, including the one related to land, will be passed by the Parliament.

Responding to journalists’ queries regarding the endorsement of the ordinances brought by the government, Minister for Communication and Information Technology Prithvi Subba Gurung, asserted that all ordinances introduced by the government, including the land-related ordinance, would be passed through the federal Parliament.

Minister Gurung, who is also the government spokesperson, made such remarks while speaking at a press conference organised to make the February 10 Cabinet decisions public in Singha Durbar on Wednesday.

Dismissing rumours that the land-related ordinance would not be passed, he claimed that the Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal (JSP-N) led by Upendra Yadav has not made any official decision on the matter. 

He further said that discussions are underway with political parties to seek consensus on the ordinances, emphasising that the country is still in a transitional phase.

Spokesperson Gurung also stated that if the government presents the social media-related Bill in Parliament, the decision to amend it or not will be made by the Parliament itself.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet meeting held at the official residence of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in Baluwatar on Monday evening (February 10), decided to transfer three secretaries, including Finance Secretary Dr. Ram Prasad Ghimire of the Ministry of Finance.

Speaking at the press meet, Minister Gurung said following the transfer of Dr. Ghimire, he has been posted at the Office of President.

While Secretary Narayan Prasad Sharma Duwadi of the Office of President has been transferred to the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), Secretary Ghan Shyam Upadhyaya of the CIAA has been transferred to the Ministry of Finance.

Minister Gurung said that the government has also transferred 17 Joint Secretaries to different ministries and offices, while Acting Secretary of the Lumbini Province Baburam Adhikari has been promoted to the post of Secretary of the civil service under Nepal Administrative Service. 

The Cabinet has taken decision to hand over the managerial and operation rights of the 15-bed Basic Hospital operated under Aathbis Municipality in Dailekh district to Karnali Academy of Health Sciences (KAHS). The proposal to this regard was tabled by the Ministry of Health and Population.

According to Minister Gurung, the government has also approved Insurance Rules-2025 and decided to provide 25 ropanis of land located in Ward Number 8 of Bheriganga Municipality of Surkhet to the National Transmission Grid Company Ltd. on lease to construct Mainatada Sub-station. The land is owned by the government of Nepal.

The government has given approval for an agreement between the Institute of Foreign Affairs (IFA) Nepal and the Diplomatic Academy of Oman on exchanging and extending cooperation of the Diplomatic Studies and Training between the officials of the Institute and the Academy. 

Similarly, upon the proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepal, the government has decided to give visa waiver facility to citizens of Ukraine possessing diplomatic, official and service visa types.

Likewise, the government has decided to grant approval in principle to move forward with the financial management preparations for the construction of a 670-megawaat reservoir-based Dudhkoshi Hydropower Project. 

The government has further decided to accept grant assistance of Rs. 277.3 million to be arranged from the Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund under the ADB for 2024-Floods and Landslides Emergency Response Project.