Lawmakers stress on corruption prevention

Published On: May 24, 2023 07:00 PM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

KATHMANDU, May 24: Nepali Congress (NC) General Secretary and lawmaker Gagan Kumar Thapa has demanded investigations into those accused in the fake Bhutanese refugee scam.

Taking part in deliberations on the government’s policies and programs for the upcoming fiscal year 2023-24 in a meeting of the House of Representatives (HoR) today, Thapa stressed the need for a thorough probe into all accused and suspects in the scam was essential to discourage corruption and promote good governance.

Commenting on the policies and programs, Thapa said the government’s policies and programs did not reflect the Prime Minister's 'vision', advising the government to come up with the concept of 'land bank'. Guarantee of free quality education and health services would contribute to minimizing corruption, he said.

CPN-UML leader and lawmaker Gokarna Bista pressed an idea of starting a culture of archiving construction feedback over the policies and programs. As he said, structural reforms are needed to increase domestic economic growth.

Purna Bahadur Ghale said lawmakers' suggestions over the policies and programs be incorporated in the policy document. "I as a member of the HoR support the government’s policies and programs," he said, underlining the need for implementing the concept to take diplomatic efforts to launch international flights from Bhairahawa and Pokhara airports and the 'learning by doing' campaign to promote practical learnings.

Rastriya Swatantra Party Chairman and lawmaker Rabi Lamichhane demanded that the government was expected to present a real scenario of the country's existing situation and the high possibility for the least economic growth should be considered while preparing the policies and programs.

The lawmaker utilized the rostrum to say that big corruption scams happened under a high-level nexus of political leadership and administration. "Money game is still taking place in the fake Bhutanese refugee scam."

The government's fresh policies and programmes lack a clear policy to connect Nepali youths and skilled human resources presently abroad to the cause of economic development. The government was expected to come up with policies and programs capable of encouraging young foreign migrants to get back home to explore career opportunities.