KATHMANDU, July 22: Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gokul Prasad Baskota has clarified that the government will not withdraw clean feed policy from the Advertising Regulation Bill, 2075. Speaking at the meeting of Development and Technology Committee under federal parliament, Minister Baskota reiterated that the government cannot accept to eliminate the policy from the bill as proposed by lawmakers from Rastriya Janata Party, Laxman Lal Karna and Ekbal Miya to amend the bill.
During the meeting, he urged both lawmakers to withdraw their proposal of amendment citing that the government cannot step back from it as the policy is in favor of national interest.
'Clean Feed' policy soon: Minister Rai
He argued that the policy would drive Nepali artists and the media sector to prosperity for which the government cannot remove the policy from the bill. Reiterating government stance on the policy, Minister Baskota elucidated that it would monitor the advertising sector of the country. Underlining the importance of clean feed, Minister Baskota claimed that the policy is also related to the employment sector of the country.
During the meeting, the lawmakers raised voice against the policy of restricting casino advertisements that have been included in the bill and urged the government to exclude the policy from the bill.
The lawmaker from the main opposition Nepali Congress Divya Mani Rajbhandari criticized the government for incorporating the policy to ban on the advertisement of the casinos adding that it is against the constitutional rights of a citizen to work. He argued that the casino advertisements would contribute to making Visit Nepal 2020 as a successful event.
During the meeting, the lawmakers urged the government to correct the conflicting provisions in the bill.
