Cabinet endorses USD 10M grant from WB

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Oct. 18: Minister for Communication and Information Technology Jagdish Kharel has said that the government will move forward in accordance with the rule of law, legal procedures, and practical governance principles.

Making public the decisions of the Council of Ministers on Friday, Minister Kharel, who is also the government spokesperson, said that maintaining good governance is the top priority of the government.

“The government will advance through all the state mechanisms in a lawful, legal, and practical manner. There should be no confusion about this. The first and foremost priority of this government is to uphold good governance,” he said, adding, “The government will implement the rule of law without any hesitation and will move strictly in accordance with legal norms.”

Minister Kharel further remarked that since the present government was formed through the Gen-Z uprising, it can be regarded as a ‘Gen-Z government. He also reiterated that the current government was formed with the support of all political parties.

Meanwhile, the government has decided to accept USD 10 million grant from the World Bank-managed Multi-Donor Trust Fund for the Public Finance Management Project.

The cabinet meeting on Thursday decided to designate various projects including power generation, transmission and distribution as national priority projects and publish their notice in the Nepal Gazette.

The government has made 19 other different decisions, including recalling resident ambassadors from 11 different countries. The cabinet decided to recall ambassadors from China, Germany, Israel, Malaysia, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, the US, the 

UK and Japan.

The government has also decided to establish two joint ventures in Nepal and India with the joint investment of the Nepal Electricity Authority and the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited to construct the Inaruwa (Purniya) and Dodhara (Bareli) 400 kV inland transmission lines. Minister Kharel informed that it has been decided to approve the equity investment of Rs. 1 billion and Rs. 2 billion in these companies, respectively, from the Nepal Electricity Authority.

The Council of Ministers also decided to approve the agreement on the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty between Nepal and India on criminal matters.  “The Council of Ministers has decided to approve Nepal to propose for negotiations to conclude a mutual legal assistance treaty in criminal matters with other countries as needed and to send proposals to various countries through diplomatic channels as needed,” said Minister Kharel. 

The cabinet decided to approve the master plan of the Tribhuvan University Cricket Ground project in Kirtipur and determine it as a national priority project. It has also been decided to invite bids for the remaining work as per the plan and approve the procurement process. 

Kharel to visit S. Korea 

Further, the Cabinet meeting has endorsed the visit of Minister for Communication and Information Technology Jagdish Kharel to South Korea to participate in the 11th Global ICT Leadership Forum in Seoul on November 12. 

The government decided to promote Jitendra Babu Thapaliya, a first-class Registrar of the Nepal Judicial Service Group, to the special category and post him as the Secretary of the Judicial Council.

It has decided to promote Uddhav Prasad Pudasaini, an Acting Deputy Attorney General of the Government Attorney Service, to the special category and post him as the Secretary of the Commission for Investigation into Enforced Disappearances (CIEDP).

Also, the government designated Justice Chandra Bahadur Saru as Chair of the Valley Development Authority’s Development Committee. 

The government decided to transfer one Lieutenant General and promote a Major General to the post of Lieutenant General and transfer five Brigadier Generals and 25 Colonels. It approved the visit of AIG Siddhi Bikram Shah to India to attend the Passing Out Parade ceremony from October 17. 

The government has also decided to create 11 temporary contract vacancies for the Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizen for the fiscal year 2025/26.