India gifts 35 ambulances, 66 buses to various organizations in Nepal

The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu gifted 35 ambulances and 66 school buses to various organizations, spread across different districts of Nepal, and working in the field of health and education respectively on Sunday.

Indian Ambassador to Nepal Shri Naveen Srivastava handed over the keys of vehicles in the presence of Finance Minister Barsha Man Pun.

Mayors and chairpersons of municipalities and rural municipalities of various districts as well as representatives of various beneficiary organizations, political representatives, officials of the Government of Nepal, and social workers were also present at the event, reads a statement issued by the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu today.

The representatives of the Embassy handed over the two out of the total 101 vehicles gifted today to the earthquake-affected Jajarkot and West Rukum districts.

The Government of India has been giving ambulances and school buses on the occasion of the Independence Day and the Republic Day of India for 3 decades to various beneficiary organizations in different parts of Nepal, giving high priority to Nepal's health and education sectors.

On the occasion, the Ambassador stated that this has been one of the long-standing initiatives of the Government of India under the Nepal-India Development Partnership to bolster the efforts of the Government of Nepal to strengthen its infrastructure in health and education sectors.

Ambassador further highlighted that this is a part of the robust and strong development partnership between India and Nepal and has a geographical spread throughout Nepal, touching people's lives and bringing out tangible progress in the development journey of Nepal, according to the statement.

 Finance Minister Pun, during the program, appreciated Government of India’s various ongoing developmental projects in Nepal and expressed that these will continue to strengthen people-to-people connectivity and bilateral relations between the two countries.  He emphasized that this flagship program is very beneficial for the people of Nepal.  

Since 1994, the Government of India has gifted 1,009 ambulances and 300 school buses across Nepal, including those gifted today. It is part of Government of India’s continued support for the efforts of Nepal to strengthen its health and education facilities and to facilitate easy physical access to these services.