ITAHARI: A total of 21 provincial assembly members have availed of induction stoves intended for the general public.
The Ministry of Water Supply, Irrigation, and Energy allocated Rs 10 million in the previous fiscal year to promote the adoption of electric stoves in households, aiming to decrease the consumption of liquefied petroleum gas.
Four of the 21 provincial assembly members are former ministers. Officials of the ministry say, four out of the 21 provincial lawmakers, have returned the stoves following widespread criticism of their actions.
Niroj Dhakal, the information officer of the ministry, out of the 21 assembly members, 11 are from the Nepali Congress, six from CPN-UML, and two from CPN (Maoist Center). Himal Karki, Sunita Chaudhary, Lakhi Kumari Ganesh, Sunita Kumari Gurung, Bhumi Prasad Rajbanshi, Maiya Shrestha, Gayananda Mandal, Dolma Tamang, Israil Mansuri, Khageshwari Paudyal, Indira Thapa, and Mamta Tamang Magar. However, Indira Thapa subsequently returned the stove.
Former Minister for Physical Infrastructure, Himal Karki, was also among the recipients.
Similarly, Lalita Kumari Chaudhary, Buddhi Kumar Rajbhandari, Geetarani Mahato, Jaya Prakash Chaudhary, Gyanendra Subedi, Leela Ballabh Adhikari, and Ram Bahadur Magar from CPN-UML received stoves. Nevertheless, Lila Ballabh Adhikari returned the stove. Rajhandari is a former social development minister, while Adhikari is a former minister of state.
Furthermore, Indra Bahadur Angbo and Geeta Timsina of the Maoist Center are believed to have received the stoves. Angbo, a former minister and leader of the Maoist Center parliamentary party, was one of them.
Although the budget for this program was allocated by the provincial government led by CPN (Unified Socialist) leader Rajendra Rai, it was implemented when UML leader Hikmat Kumar Karki was the Chief Minister. Til Kumar Meyangbo, who served as the Minister for Water Supply, Irrigation, and Energy in Karki’s cabinet, made the ministerial decision to distribute induction stoves to provincial assembly members.
The ministry distributed a total of 613 double-port induction stoves of the Ageno brand priced at Rs 13,400 each. Out of these, 88 stoves were sent to provincial assembly members, and 31 stoves were allocated for the Province Assembly Secretariat staffers.
Minister for Water Supply, Irrigation, and Energy Pradip Kumar Sunuwar said that the decision to distribute induction stoves was made by the previous government.
Previously, the Karki-led government had intended to distribute laptops as well to all provincial assembly members. However, this decision couldn’t be implemented out due to opposition from the Nepali Congress assembly members.
