Cabinet decisions: High-level economic reform commission gets three more members

Kathmandu, November 22 — The government has incorporated three more members from the private sectors to the high-level economic reform recommendation commission formed under the chairmanship of former secretary Rameshwor Prasad Khanal.

Making public the Cabinet decision on Friday, Minister for Communications and Information Technology Prithvi Subba Gurung informed Chandra Dhakal (President, FNCCI), Rajesh Kumar Agrawal (Chair, Confederation of Nepalese Industries) and Kamalesh Kumar Agrawal (Chair, Nepal Chamber of Commerce) have been inducted as members to the Commission.

Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission, Prof Dr Shivaraj Adhikari, has been allowed for his participation in an international programme relating to sustainable transport which is scheduled to take place from December 10 to 12 in Manila, Philippines. 

Similarly, the Cabinet meeting fixed the five year term of citizen saving bond- Rs 2 billion- to be issued by the Public Debt Management Office in Mangsir month of current fiscal year, which will have the interest rate of 7.5 percent. Similarly, the foreign employment saving bond of Rs 500 million will have five years term with 8.5 percent interest rate.

The government has decided to accept some Rs 1.76 billion grant to be provided by the Swiss government for the fourth phase of programme on safe migration. The Finance Ministry is allowed to decide on discount of customs duty as per section 18 (2 and 3) of Financial Act, 2081

In case of liability to be borne by Forest Development Fund as per Section 45 of Forest Act, 2076, the Finance Ministry would manage sources for the projects run by Nepal government so that the projects would not be obliged to contribute to the Fund in the fiscal year, 2081/82, the Minister and Spokesperson Gurung shared.

The meeting also decided to endorse the schedule for the second Nepal-China coordination mechanism meeting, which will be held in Kathmandu on November 28, along with its agenda. As per the Cabinet decisions, Deputy Inspectors General of Nepal Police, Buddhiraj Gurung, and Kedar Dhakal, have been promoted to the posts of Additional Inspector General, with assignments to the Operational Department and the Province Coordination Department, respectively.

Furthermore, the meeting agreed to designate Dr Lavadev Awasthi, Gopinath Mainali, Umesh Raj Joshi, Surendra Kumar Jha, Prof Yogendra Gurung, and Sharmila Karki as members of the Decoration Committee.

Additionally, a three-member recommendation committee, coordinated by Home Secretary Gokarnamani Duwadi, has been formed to recommend the appointment of the Chief Executive Officer for the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority. The committee consists of former Secretary Deepak Subedi and Associate Professor Dr Reshma Shrestha as members.

The meeting also decided to recommend Purna Bahadur Nepali of Buddhabhumi municipality-2 in Kapilvastu for the appointment as the Ambassador to Sri Lanka. The meeting approved the use of 36.323 hectares of land belonging to the national forest in Jhapa, Sunsari, and Morang for the construction of the Dharan-Kerabari Letang-Madhumalla road project.

Moreover, Om Prasad Baral has been nominated as the Vice-Chair of the Council of Technical Education and Vocational Training, while Dr. Suresh Prasad Acharya has been appointed as the Chief Information Officer at the National Information Commission. Gagan Bista and Durga Bhandari Paudel have also been appointed as members of the NIC.

The Cabinet has permitted the operation of the Dharahara (Bhimsen Tower) by taking a certain fee from November 24 until the formation of the Standard Structures and Management Development Committee under the Ordinance of 2081 BS.

The government has also given its in-principle approval to formulate a bill to amend and integrate the Nepal Health Service. Furthermore, Minister for Health and Population, Pradip Paudel, will attend an event in Bali, Indonesia, on December 4-5, without incurring any additional financial burden to the government.

Lastly, the meeting accepted the Guidelines regarding the appointment and nomination (First Amendment), 2081 BS, related to the office bearers of public entities under the Ministry of Urban Development.