The new banknote is the first of its kind in South Asia
KATHMANDU, Aug 14: For the first time in the history of Nepal, the central bank has introduced new Rs 1,000 bills, which can be identified by the visually-impaired people.
The Rs 1,000 bill, introduced by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) on July 22, has the letter 'M' at the bottom its right side, which can be easily identified by visually-impaired people by touching.
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The left side of the bill has a picture of Mt Everest – the highest peak in the world. Likewise, the right side of the bill has a picture of rhododendron – the national flower of Nepal.
According to the central bank, the bill is the first of its kind in South Asia. "The highly-secured Rs 1,000 notes have been introduced in line with the specialty of the United States dollar," Chinta Mani Shiwakoti, deputy governor at the NRB, told Republica.
"For the first time in Nepal, the central bank has introduced machine readable bills with highly-secure security thread. Now, it is not possible for anyone to produce counterfeit Rs 1,000 bills," said Deputy Governor Shiwakoti, adding that the new bank notes have been printed at a lower price.
A total of 310 million units of new Rs 1,000 notes have been printed by the central bank. The central bank paid Rs 3.37 each to print the bank notes.
"The new bank notes have a picture of twin elephants – Ram and Laxman – from the Chitwan National Park. Earlier, the Rs 1,000 note had a picture of an unidentified elephant. As questions were raised on the picture of the elephant, the central bank put the picture of the twin elephants of Chitwan National Park," he said.
The NRB is also preparing to introduce new Rs 500 banknotes with the same specialty as new Rs 1,000 notes.
The note has the signature of former governor Dr Chiranjivi Nepal.
