MP Devkota Demands Removal of Policy Hurdles in Forest, Agriculture, Youth Employment Sectors

Kathmandu. MP Samjhana Devkota has demanded the removal of policy hurdles in the sectors of forest, agriculture, and youth self-employment. She expressed her views during a discussion with ministries regarding the budget formulation for the upcoming fiscal year in the National Assembly's Development, Economic Affairs and Good Governance Committee.

Speaking at the meeting, MP Devkota emphasized that forests should be commercially utilized to put the slogan 'Green forest is Nepal's wealth' into practice. She stated that although the forest area has increased, the country has not been able to gain economic benefits from it.

MP Devkota criticized the forest-related laws as impractical. She said, 'In today's practical scenario, a murder case might be easily settled, but once a forest case is filed, a person's life is ruined. If you want to trouble someone, you can just file a forest case.'

She demanded that policies should be relaxed not only for forest conservation but also for its scientific utilization and domestic consumption. Her suggestion was to cut down old trees that produce less oxygen, plant new saplings, and reduce timber imports.

She stated that people are forced to leave villages because wild animals like monkeys, bears, deer, and wild boars destroy crops in the villages. She urged for a concrete policy for the control of these animals along with their conservation and compensation for crop damage to farmers.

MP Devkota said that programs suitable for the 'Gen Z' generation should be introduced to attract youth to the labor market. She argued that if arrangements could be made to provide remuneration weekly or bi-weekly instead of monthly, as in foreign countries, the circulation of money in the market would increase. She also suggested arranging collateral-free and concessional loans for rural women.

She demanded stricter market monitoring, citing the spread of diseases like cancer due to increased pesticide levels in milk, ghee, and food items available in the market. 'The food available in highway hotels is unhealthy; this needs to be managed,' she said.

In the tourism sector, she proposed to the government to develop a 'stone park' by utilizing the large stones in Rani Ban of Gorkha and to develop religious tourism by connecting Devghat and Chatara Dham.