A cabinet meeting held at Singha Durbar on Friday decided to forward the amendment bill to the related parliamentary committee before it is tabled in the parliament for a discussion on the amendment proposal, informed Information Minister Sher Dhan Rai, who is also spokesperson of the government.
The decision has come at a time when Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has been pressing for holding interim local level elections describing them as crucial for carrying out the tasks of reconstruction and rehabilitation in the quake-affected districts smoothly.
The last local level elections were held in 1997 for a five-year term.
Since the term of the representatives elected from the last elections expired, the local bodies are being run by civil servants who take major decisions in consensus with representatives of political parties.
The absence of local representatives has already made the process of distributing relief to earthquake victims too challenging.
So far, the National Reconstruction Authority has been able to get just 641 quake victims of Dolakha district to sign the grant distribution agreement.
The Election Commission had forward the amendment bill to the government around two months ago.
The cabinet meeting on Friday also gave approval to formulate necessary laws for establishing various commissions envisioned by the new constitution. "The meeting has given approval to formulate necessary laws to form various commissions like National Inclusive Commission, Indigenous and Ethnic Groups Commission, Madhesi, Tharu, Muslim and Dalit Commissions," said Minister Rai.
Similarly, the cabinet has reached a conclusion that Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli's visit to China was historic and fruitful. "We concluded that the agreements on transit and transportation; expansion of railway and road infrastructures for enhancing connectivity; petroleum exploration; and strengthening existing trade infrastructures and open new ones are of historic importance," said Minister Rai.
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