Govt forms panel to implement recommendations for economic reforms

KATHMANDU: The government formed a committee to develop a work plan for implementing economic reforms recommended by a high-level commission headed by Former Finance Secretary Rameshore Khanal.

A cabinet meeting held on Tuesday evening took the decision, according to Government Spokesperson and Minister for Communications and Information Technology Prithvi Subba Gurung.

The committee, led by Choodmamani Paudel, Secretary (Governance Affairs) at the Office of the Prime Minister, includes Revenue Secretary Dinesh Kumar Ghimire and Industry Secretary Krishna Bahadur Raut as members. The committee has been given seven days to prepare its work plan.

The high-level commission has made a series of recommendations to address pressing issues such as environmental degradation, black-market activities, corruption, illegal extraction, and unregulated crusher industries while promoting sustainable practices and economic growth.

Given below are other important decisions taken by the cabinet: 

• Accept a $137 million concessional loan from the World Bank to implement the third phase of the Rani Jamara Kulariya Irrigation Project.
• Accept a grant of 1.88 million Swiss Francs from the Swiss government for the Small Irrigation Program.
• Approve a proposal to acquire land for establishing 13 border outposts, a battalion, and disaster management bases for the Armed Police Force.
• Endorse a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Cooperation for Sustainable Urban Development to be signed between the Ministry of Urban Development and India’s Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
• Provide needful facilitation and coordination for the early enactment of the School Education Bill, currently under review by the parliament’s Education, Health, and Information Technology Committee.
• Request the Confederation of Nepali Teachers (CNT) to call off their ongoing protests, citing the importance of the ongoing school enrollment campaign, the national examination for Class 12, and the evaluation of Secondary Education Examination (SEE) answer sheets.