Madan Krishna Shrestha Discusses Parliamentary Role and Commitments

Elected from the proportional list in the House of Representatives election, Madan Krishna Shrestha became active in social service after student politics. Having led local levels, he was active in Nepali Congress politics for a long time. Currently, he is also the Secretary of the Nepali Congress Parliamentary Party.

Rato Pati has interviewed Shrestha for the 'Saansad Sangai' (With the Parliamentarian) column—

Why did you become a parliamentarian?

I have reached parliament to decentralize and delegate rights to provincial and local governments as per the Constitution of Nepal 2072, and to make laws, rules, and regulations as given by the constitution and laws of Nepal. My goal is to develop Nepal, uplift the people below the poverty line, make the rich richer, and build development, and address various problems of Nepal. I will play a role in making laws and regulations for increasing agricultural production, minimizing petrol and diesel by using more electricity produced in our own country, and utilizing the potential of emigrated youth by keeping them in the country.

What will be your main tasks as a parliamentarian?

We will make new laws. Primarily, we parliamentarians will amend the constitution and improve weak aspects of laws. I will focus on matters related to development construction, education, health, employment, youth employment, increasing agricultural production here, generating more electricity from hydropower, and promoting the use of electric vehicles. I will work towards increasing the economic growth of the people.

What were your main commitments during the election?

Cities are growing in the country. We need to make cities organized; cities are developing haphazardly right now, and they need to be developed in an organized manner. The environment here is deteriorating. Commitments included making laws and regulations to minimize pollution. Now we need to pay attention to these commitments.

Can you fulfill those commitments during your tenure?

As I said above, I will be fully committed to increasing the country's economic growth, creating employment, and making education and health more qualitative and service-oriented.

I went to Korea in 2009. The Nepal-Korea Friendship Hospital that is currently in operation was brought by me as a clinic when I was mayor and developed into a hospital. Health insurance was first introduced in Nepal by us after returning from Korea. We started it after discussions based on Korean technology. The health insurance currently initiated by the government has helped many.

Now, health insurance has been implemented in most hospitals and across Nepal. There are problems with it, but the government will also solve those problems. How to solve health insurance? Similarly, we will focus on solving problems in education and health. We are committed in parliament to making laws and regulations so that those below the poverty line can receive accessible education, health, and employment.

What do you want to tell the public?

It may take time to work, it doesn't happen immediately, but we will keep trying. We will amend laws and regulations to minimize corruption and strengthen the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority. We will also focus on quickly resolving issues related to public procurement and development infrastructure construction, which are being delayed. We will work on amending whatever laws and regulations need to be amended.

The services and facilities that the public should receive, and development construction, have been delayed. It takes a long time to get justice in court. The public wants services and facilities quickly. Laws and regulations need to be amended for corruption reduction and good governance, and we will work on that.