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Prime Minister and CPN (Maoist Centre) Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal has alleged that forces opposed to the federal democratic republic are scheming to mislead the people.

Addressing a meeting of the CPN (Maoist Centre) ward committee at Barpak Sulikot Mural municipality-8 in Gorkha under the party’s Special Transformation Campaign today, he said the enemies of the republic are conspiring to make the people dejected and mislead them against the republic.

“You and we all should prevent people being misled and dejected. These kinds of people do not even see the good works carried out by the government, do not want to show that to the people and also do not talk positively. They only talk negatively and are plotting to spread hopelessness among the people,” he said.

The PM stressed on the need of taking the people into confidence and convincing them to stop the anti-republic activities. He also explained that the main objective of conducting the special campaign is not only to make the party active and vigorous, but also to deepen its relations with the people and defend the change that has been brought after the struggle and sacrifices. The party Chair claimed that the campaign has been successful as per its mission.

PM Dahal also informed that the government has started preparations from now itself to bring the budget for the next fiscal year in a new way so that the people will get to experience the change.

“The trend of traditionally holding discussions on the topics of the budget from mid-February and concluding the same in mid-May will be put to an end now. This time the government will finalise the budget by mid-February in a new way so that the people will experience a change,” he added.

On a different note, the Prime Minister claimed that the present government and the coalition have become stronger and the present ruling alliance will last its full five-year term.

Stating that the incumbent government has liberated the usury victims from the exploitation of loan sharks, he said only the Maoist-led government can banish the corrupt, land Mafiosi and the smugglers.

He said the construction of the Budhigandaki Hydropower Project, a project of national pride, has been finalized and urged the party workers and the general public not to have doubts whether or not the project would be constructed.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has pledged that there would be no budgetary constraint issues for the implementation of Budhigandaki Reservoir-based Project.

Speaking at a program entitled "The Prime Minister with People's Representatives and Stakeholders” organized by the Barpak Sulikot Rural Municipality in Gorkha today, he said the budget resources for Budhigandaki, the project of national pride, has been ensured. 

"Now there is no confusion over the availability of the budget for the project.  The government, through the Cabinet meeting recently, decided to allocate five percent of revenue from the physical infrastructure sector to the project."

The 1,200-megawatt project will be implemented soon, according to the Prime Minister who believes that the project implementation will pave the way for economic development, prosperity and job opportunities in Gorkha in the future.

Dahal, who is also the House of Representatives (HoR) member from the Gorkha constituency-2, said he is committed to implementing words he gave before the Gorkha folks during the election campaign period. 

Discussions are in progress to revive the Gorakhkali Rubber Industry based in Deurali of Gorkha, according to the Prime Minister.

Pressing an idea for upgrading the Aanppipal Hospital in the district to a 50-bed health facility, he pledged to initiate towards that end.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Prakash Saud has said that approximately 100 Nepalis who are serving in the Russian army remain missing and some have been injured. Speaking at a programe in the Capital, the foreign minister said the ministry is receiving complaints from the family members of the missing.

Saud said approximately 200 Nepalis who went to Russia on student, working and visit visas have joined the Russian army. However, the number could be bigger given the growing number of complaints.

According to him, the ministry has already summoned the Russian ambassador and conveyed Nepal’s concern to Moscow. The government has also ordered the Nepali Embassy in Moscow to reach out to Russian authorities. 

Foreign Minister Saud also said that the government was in constant touch with Ukraine to free the Nepalis being held hostage by the Ukrainian army. The government has also requested the International Committee of Red Cross to help to rescue Nepalis in Ukraine.

To date, seven Nepalis have been confirmed dead and four are under captivity in Ukraine. According to the ministry, four Nepalis are under Ukraine’s captivity. They have been identified as Bibek Khatri, Sidhartha Dhakal, Bikas Rai and Pratik Pun. Nepal has communicated with the Ukraine government about the matter.

According to the Foreign Ministry, Nepal has told the Russian side to provide compensation to those who were killed in war with Ukraine and facilitate the process of repatriating the bodies.

In order to stop the recruitment process, Nepal has made the provision of no objection letter mandatory. The provision also applies to those flying to Russia from India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has announced to expand the scope of health insurance.

In an address to the nation on the occasion of the completion of one year of his government today, Prime Minister Dahal said the insurance scheme has not proceeded according to the spirit of the National Health Insurance Act introduced during his previous tenure in 2074.

But the current government will improve it to realize the constitutional right of citizens to health with a high priority, he said. For this, policy and procedural reforms for the effective implementation of insurance, capacity building of the insurance board, strong monitoring and evaluation mechanism, increasing the scope of insurance coverage and comprehensive improvement in the structure and quality of services, he informed that the government is taking care of the insurance.

The Prime Minister also expressed the commitment to increase the current ceiling in insurance coverage, while all the free health programs will be included in the health insurance in an integrated manner.

With a focus on health insurance, the health system will be developed according to the integrated health infrastructure development standards, he said.