Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki said on Friday that holding local body elections within the fixed time was the top priority of the government.
Speaking at a weekly press meet organised at the Ministry today to make public the Cabinet decisions of Thursday, Minister Karki said that the government has given top priority to the local body governments as the Constitution has given high importance to the local body polls and representatives elected from them.
“The federal government is committed to holding the local body elections in time and ready to cater benefits to the locals by electing their representatives for the development of their society,” Minister Karki said.
Minister Karki said that as envisioned by the Constitution, the government was committed to taking all the benefits and services centered at the Singha Durbar up to the local body offices and to the doorsteps of the citizens.
Term of the local level officials elected in 2017 is expiring next year. Then the local body elections were held in three phases on May 14, June 28 and September 18, 2017.
Minister Karki, who is also the government spokesperson, said that the government has decided to hold the National Assembly election on January 26 next year to elect 20 of its members whose term is expiring on March 4, 2022.
The Constitution has a mandatory provision to hold the election of the NA for the vacant posts 35 days before their term expires. Under the same provision, the
Cabinet meeting held on Thursday took the decision to this effect, said Minister Karki.
The government has also given a nod to Chief Commissioner for the Commission of the Abuse of Authority (CIAA) Prem Kumar Rai to take part in the 9th Summit of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) to be held in Egypt.
Nepal is a signatory nation of the UNCAC.
Similarly, the Cabinet meeting endorsed the visit of Minister for Defence Dr. Minendra Rijal to take part in the United Nations Peacekeeping Ministerial Meeting to be held in South Korea.
The Cabinet meeting further gave permission to Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Dilendra Prasad Badu to take part in the 59th annual session of the Asian-African Legal Consultative Organisation (AALCO) to be held in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China from November 29 to December 1, 2021.
Further, the Cabinet meeting has endorsed the visit of Secretary Sagar Kumar Rai of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resource and Irrigation to Morocco to take part in the International Executive Council (IEC) meeting.
The government has also decided to accept concessional loan assistance worth USD 60 million to be provided by the Asian Development Bank for the implementation of Electricity Grid Modernisation Project.
Likewise, the government promoted Dr. Shyam Sundar Yadav, Dr. Bhim Singh Tinkari and Dr. Guna Raj Lohani to the 12th grade under Nepal Health Services. The government has also decided to appoint the first class officers in the vacant posts as per the recommendation of the Public Service Commission.
The Cabinet meeting also decided to form a separate committee to stop cruelty against animals, Minister Karki said.
Source : TRN,
