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Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said the country's economic indicators are on a positive trajectory due to the consistent efforts.

Making a statement prior to seeking a vote of confidence in the House of Representatives today, he said he has been continuously working since the beginning for improving the economy and made it clear that most of the economic indicators have improved in the latest situation.

"The balance of payment is in reserve by 297 billion and 720 million in the seven months' period of the current fiscal year. The foreign exchange reserve has increased by 19.9 percent and reached nearly equivalent to Rs 1 trillion and 845 billion," the PM said, adding that the trade deficit has reduced by 1.8 percent.

He further said the inflation has been limited to 5.1 percent in the seven months' period and the loan disbursement has increased by 4.7 percent.

"It is not that the government cannot interpret the existing economic condition as a big achievement, but the expected progress has not been made in the domestic production and employment generation. Similarly, capital expenditure has also not been increased as expected. It is necessary to give extra impetus to the projects of national pride and priority, to increase the capital expenditure and to further improve in public service delivery," the PM pointed out on the occasion.

He made it clear that making the administration mechanism efficient, removing the procedural obstacles and creating an environment conducive for fully harnessing the capacity of the private sector were his first priority.

'We are close to power trade agreement with Bangladesh'

Prime Minister Dahal announced on the occasion that a tri-nation electricity trade agreement would be signed for exporting up to 40 megawatts power from Nepal to Bangladesh. He asserted that Nepal has reached close to electricity trade not only with India but with Bangladesh as well.

"The door for electricity trade is opening towards China as well. This is also not a small achievement, but we need to carry out a great deal of work in electricity infrastructure development to achieve this possibility," the PM observed.

Stating that Nepal has now made its presence in the world forum on the concept of climate justice and equality, he recalled that the visit of the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to Nepal and Nepal's presentation in the COP-28 held in Dubai, UAE have sent a new message to that connection.

"We have given the message that now Nepal will give leadership to the voice of mountain nations affected by climate crisis," he said, expressing that the list of government's achievement is not short, but these achievements were not adequate to fulfill the country's needs and possibilities.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal is seeking a vote of confidence in the meeting of the House of Representatives (HoR) scheduled for today.

The federal parliamentary secretariat has already made necessary preparations to this effect. The HoR meeting is scheduled to be held at 11 am today.

The Prime Minister is going to seek the vote of confidence again today after the Nepali Congress withdrew the support extended to the Prime Minister with the change in the ruling coalition on March 4.

Dahal, also the chairperson of the CPN (Maoist Centre), was elected the Prime Minister on 25 December 2022. He had taken the vote of confidence on 10 January 2023.

Out of the 270 lawmakers present in the Parliament, 268 gave a vote of confidence to PM Dahal. At the moment, all the parties, including Nepali Congress had given him a vote of confidence.

During the presidential election, the ruling coalition changed again. CPN-UML, Rastriya Swatantra Party and Rastriya Prajatantra Party withdrew their support to the government. Prime Minister Dahal had again taken the vote of confidence on 20 March 2023, after the change of the ruling coalition. He had secured 172 votes at the HoR.

After the change of alliance again on 4 March, the then ruling partner Nepali Congress now has reached the opposition. The party has withdrawn the vote of confidence. CPN-UML, CPN (Maoist Center), Rastriya Swatantra Party, Janata Samajwadi Party and CPN (Unified Socialist) have formed a new alliance. 

Prime Minister Dahal, who has the support of the new alliance, is going to take a vote of confidence in the House of Representatives today. The parties affiliated to the alliance have also issued whip to give a vote of confidence to the Prime Minister.

In the HoR, UML has 78 lawmakers, Maoist Center 32, Rastriya Swatantra Party 21, Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal 12 and Unified Socialist 10.

Chairperson of Nagarik Unmukti Party and parliamentary party leader Ranjita Shrestha has also issued a whip to vote for PM Dahal.

On this basis, the Prime Minister will easily get a vote of confidence.

The Prime Minister needs 138 votes to trust him. The parliamentary secretariat has included PM Dahal's vote of confidence as a possible agenda for today's meeting of the HoR.

When Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ditched the Nepali Congress to form a new coalition with the CPN-UML, he noted that he felt it necessary to deliver what he had promised the country. To ensure good governance and improve the political and economic situation of the country, he said he was compelled to make the move. For the prime minister, the Congress party was hindering his efforts to bring changes that could be felt by the people.      

Leaders close to Dahal say the prime minister brought the UML onboard to reinvigorate his government—although the UML on its part was also working behind the scene to break the Maoist-NC alliance. The UML felt that the Maoist-NC alliance was formed with the express purpose of keeping the UML out of power. So the party was quietly exploring ways to undo the Maoist-NC partnership, which had a strong backing from internal and external powers.  

On the face of it, the UML was focused on its ‘Mission 84’ campaign to strengthen the party’s structure and support base targeting the general elections of 2084 BS (2027). But when Prime Minister Dahal sought UML’s support to form a new coalition, UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli agreed without hesitation. This time Oli did not bargain much when it came to power-sharing. While there may have been a gentlemen’s agreement between Oli and Dahal on leading the government on equal terms for the remaining four years, there was no written deal. 

It appears that Oli was more lenient this time, that he was willing to make some sacrifices. The UML did not bargain for powerful ministries and even agreed to support the Maoist candidate for the NA chairpersonship, a major bone of contention between the Maoist and the NC. 

One UML leader says since the party did not demand attractive ministries, such as the foreign affairs, home, and finance, it helped Prime Minister Dahal to expand his Cabinet without much hassle. Oli suggested Prime Minister Dahal and other coalition partner leaders to choose their preferred ministries. 

The UML also did not send any of its senior leaders to join the Dahal-led Cabinet. For instance, senior leader Bishnu Poudel, who had earlier served as a finance minister, refused to join the government.

The uncharacteristic approach taken by Oli while joining the Maoist-led government has raised a debate whether the UML is committed to the coalition. Is it a half-hearted commitment, or is it the UML’s ploy to keep the Dahal government weak? None, says Bishnu Rijal, a UML central committee member. For Chairman Oli and the UML, he says, breaking the Maoist-NC partnership was crucial to bring political stability. Gaining important ministries was never a priority for Chairman Oli and the party, adds Rijal.   

The UML seems comfortable just supporting the Maoist-led coalition government, and allowing Prime Minister Dahal to effectively implement his plans. Dahal has mentioned that with the Nepali Congress, he felt limited and was unable to produce the desired results. The prime minister was mainly dissatisfied with former finance minister from the NC, Prakash Sharan Mahat, for not involving him in key decisions.  

Rijal says Oli believes that Prime Minister Dahal should be allowed to work without any pressure from his coalition partners. 

It is apparent that if Oli becomes prime minister, he expects the same from his coalition partners: a free hand to run the government affairs. When Oli led a powerful communist government in 2018, senior leaders including Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal had criticized him for not consulting with them on the issues related to the government. The infighting eventually led Oli to dissolve the parliament and to the break-up of the erstwhile Nepal Communist Party. 

Oli has provided Prime Minister Dahal free rein to work on his vision of good governance and improved economy. The onus now lies on Dahal to effectively lead the latest coalition. Like in the case of the Nepali Congress, he cannot use the excuse of ‘non-cooperation from coalition partners’ in case this alliance were to break up again.   

The only challenge Prime Minister Dahal may face could be from his other coalition partner, Rastriya Swatantra Party, which leads the Ministry of Home Affairs. A senior UML leader says his party will fully support Dahal’s leadership so long as he works honestly without harboring any ulterior motives to safeguard his position. 

The Dahal government should now expedite the process of finalizing the common minimum program and put serious effort into its execution. If he leads successfully, UML leaders say, the party will also consider building a long-term alliance of communist parties. For now, everything rests on Prime Minister Dahal’s action.  

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli held a meeting in Baluwatar on Monday.

UML Chairman Oli had reached Baluwatar to meet Prime Minister Dahal.

During the meeting, they discussed election to the post of National Assembly chair and vote of confidence to be taken by Prime Minister Dahal on March 13.

Narayan Dahal of the CPN (Maoist Center) on behalf of the ruling coalition and Yuvaraj Sharma of the Nepali Congress filed their nominations for the election to the post of upper house chair.

Prime Minister Dahal has already sent a letter to the Federal Parliament Secretariat to make arrangements to seek a vote of confidence on March 13, Speaker’s press advisor Shekhar Adhikari informed.

Prime Minister Dahal is seeking the vote of confidence for the second time.

He sought the vote of confidence for the first time on January 11.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal expanded his Cabinet by inducting two ministers on Sunday.

Upendra Yadav and Nawa Kishor Sah of Janata Samajbadi Party have become ministers in the Dahal Cabinet.

Yadav has been appointed as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health and Population and Sah as Minister for Forest.

President Ram Chandra Paudel administered the oath of office and secrecy amidst a function at Sheetal Niwas.

With the appointment of two ministers, the current Council of Ministers now has 22 members.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has made it clear that he changed the power equation even by taking risks in order to make the government's works effective.

The PM said so while putting his views on the latest political developments and in reply to the queries of lawmakers in the meeting of the House of Representatives today.

On the occasion, Dahal said he had declared before this in the House that he would not remain in his post if he failed to prove his capability or to bring positive change and raise hope in the country, but he did not get support from some factions in the erstwhile ruling coalition for his commitment.

"I had been telling time and again that I was not satisfied with the government's pace of work. I had two alternatives – either to protect my post by running an average and ad-hoc government or to work for nation building as per my political resolve even by risking the post. I chose the second option," the PM said.

He maintained that although his step might seem reflective of uncertainty and unreliable to some, it was in the interest of the country and the people. The PM added that this would be proven from the government's works and their result in the coming days.

"It is not that as a government we did not achieve notable results in various sectors. However, I wanted speed and dynamism. I was and am not in a state of confining myself in the cage of self-praise for the average results, he said, adding, "Colleagues (in the erstwhile ruling coalition) loved me as a person, but did not do me justice as a Prime Minister highly aspiring for change, good governance and prosperity."

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has expressed the commitment to probe and bring the micro-finance financial institutions that are carrying out works in contravention to the prevailing laws and directives issued by the Nepal Rastra Bank under the purview of action. 

Responding to the queries by lawmakers in the meeting of the House of Representatives today, he said the extra fees stipulated by the micro-finances are being returned to the account holders concerned.

"The directive to return the service charge more than the stipulated amount and deposit that in the account of the borrower is being implemented. A separate desk has been set up at the Micro-finance Institutions Supervision Department to hear and address the complaints," PM Dahal reiterated.

He added that an agreement has been reached by holding talks between the government, industrialists- businessmen and farmers organizations concerned to pay within April 3 the dairy farmers their remaining dues as of January 14, 2024, and to continue the remaining regular payments. 

The PM informed that the Lumbini Development Trust (LDT) Executive Committee has already implemented the directive related to the leasing of land at Ramgram of Kapilvastu, which was issued by the House of Representatives, Public Account Committee.

He also stated that the draft of the law for forming a second order regulatory body for the regulation of financial cooperative institutions is in final stages of making.

No-objection Certificate mandatory for traveling to Russia

Meanwhile, the PM said the Russian government has already been informed that recruitment of Nepali citizens in the Russian Army is illegal, and that 'No-objection Certificate' has been made mandatory for those traveling to Russia.

Responding to the lawmakers' questions in the HoR, he made it clear that diplomatic efforts have been stepped up asking Russia not to recruit the Nepali citizens in the Russian Army and to send those already recruited to Nepal.

The Prime Minister also informed the House that talks are on with the officials of the countries concerned in connection with repatriation of the bodies of Nepali citizens recruited in the Russian Army and killed in the conflict, providing compensation to the families of those killed and the injured ones, and bringing home the Nepali citizens held hostage by the Ukrainian Army.

"Lately the Russian government has agreed to provide, through the Consular Service Department, the compensation and insurance amount to the victims' families, depositing the amount in the bank account of the Nepali Embassy. The No-objection Certificate has been made mandatory to those Nepali citizens if they have to travel to Russia. However, it does not apply in the case of those studying in higher education on scholarship and those doing business and professions there," the PM explained.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal expanded his Cabinet on Wednesday.

The newly appointed ministers take the oath of office and secrecy amidst a function at Sheetal Niwas as per Article 80 of the Constitution, the President’s Office said.

President Ram Chandra Paudel, Vice-President Ram Sahaya Yadav, Prime Minister Dahal and Speaker Devraj Ghimire among others were present in the swearing in ceremony.

The CPN-UML got eight ministries in the Dahal-led government.

Raghubir Mahaseth has been appointed as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Padam Giri as Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Hari Upreti as Minister for Defense, Bhagwati Chaudhary as Minister for Women, Children and Senior Citizens, Rajendra Rai as Minister for Drinking Water, Damodar Bhandari as Minister for Commerce and Supplies, Jwala Kumari Sah as Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development and Balram Adhikari as Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation.

Similarly, the CPN (Maoist Center) got six ministries including the Prime Minister.

Narayan Kaji Shrestha has been appointed as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs, Barsha Man Pun as Minister for Finance, Rekha Sharma as Minister Communications and Information Technology, Shakti Bahadur Basnet as Minister for Energy, Water Resource and Irrigation and Hit Bahadur Tamang as Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation.

Likewise, the Rastriya Swatantra Party got the responsibility of four ministries including Home.

President Rabi Lamichhane has been appointed as Minister for Home, Vice-President DP Aryal as Minister for Labor, Employment and Social Security, Sumana Shrestha as Minister for Education, Science and Technology and Biraj Bhakta Shrestha as Minister for Youth and Sports.

Bhanu Bhakta Joshi has been appointed as Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration and Dhan Bahadur Buda as Minister for Urban Development from the CPN (Unified Socialist).

The new power equation formed on Monday includes UML, Maoist Center, Rastriya Swatantra Party and Janata Samajbadi Party.

They were also trying to rope in other parties as well.

Padam Giri from UML, Hitman Tamang from Maoist Center and DP Aryal from Rastriya Swatantra Party had taken the oath of office and secrecy as ministers without portfolio on Monday.

Meanwhile, though Janata Samajbadi Party leader Mohammad Istiyak Rai supported the new ruling alliance, he said that it has not been decided whether to join the government or not.

Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba was fully confident that Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal would hand over the power to him in 2025. So he was treading cautiously to keep the current coalition intact, extra careful not to upset Dahal. 

In Deuba’s own words, he refused to meet the opposition leader, KP Sharma Oli of the CPN-UML, despite the latter’s repeated requests. He even turned down Oli’s premiership offer, because he didn’t want to betray Dahal’s CPN (Maoist Center). But little did Deuba know that Oli’s UML had also been making overtures to Prime Minister Dahal to break the Maoist-NC coalition and form a left alliance. 

While it is true that the relationship between Dahal and Deuba was fraught with disagreements and misunderstandings, Deuba never thought they were serious enough to break the alliance.
According to NC leaders, the current situation resonates with the incident of 2017 when the Maoist party while being in the NC-led government forged an electoral alliance with the UML. Consequently, the NC faced a historic drubbing in the general elections, while the Maoists and UML went on to unify to become the largest communist party that the country had ever seen. The unified communist party, however, split to their old forms following a power tussle between Dahal and Oli.  

Now the two communist parties are together again and the Nepali Congress, which emerged as the largest political party through the 2022 parliamentary elections, has been relegated to the opposition’s role. Deuba’s party has also been stripped of power in the provinces. The NC has been in this same situation before. Soon after the 2022 general elections, the NC had taken a firm stance of forming a government under its leadership. This led the Maoists to switch sides and make an alliance with the UML to form a government. But once again, there was a power tussle between Dahal and Oli, and the Maoist-UML coalition fell through. 

The NC returned to power after agreeing to Dahal’s condition that he should be allowed to lead the government for two years. As per the agreement, Deuba would lead the coalition government for the final two years of the five-year term, and Madhav Kumar Nepal of the CPN (Unified Socialist) would helm the government for one year after the end of Dahal’s term.  

With everything that had occurred between the Maoists and UML, with all the bad blood between Dahal and Oli, there was no reason for Deuba to suspect that something was amiss. How wrong was he! 

In Monday’s office-bearers meeting, Deuba called Dahal a betrayer for secretly aligning with the UML without any solid reason. While Deuba and his supporters have taken it as a major loss to the NC, leaders like Shekhar Koirala and Gagan Thapa are of the view that it will be beneficial to the party in the long-run. 

Koirala said break-up and formation of alliances is a normal affair in politics, even though Prime Minister Dahal abandoned the NC in an abrupt and abnormal manner. 

He added that the NC should be careful about forging such an alliance in the future.

For a long time, Koirala was against the NC-Maoist alliance. The party’s general secretary duo Thapa and Bishwa Prakash Sharma also held contradictory views regarding the alliance with the Maoist party. Even though the Nepali Congress leader Ram Chandra Poudel was elected the President with the support of the Maoists, Thapa, Sharma, Koirala and other NC leaders were concerned that the alliance with the Maoist party was compromising the party’s ideology and eroding the support base. 

In the recently concluded Mahasamiti meeting of the NC, Thapa and his team took a firm position that the party should make an official stance that it will not forge any electoral alliance in the next general elections. So the party endorsed the proposal to not form a pre-poll alliance while also committing to give continuity to the NC-Maoist coalition until the next elections. 

It was a reason enough for Prime Minister Dahal to sever ties with the NC. Dahal was also unhappy with the performance of the NC ministers. Some leaders say the prime minister was also being pressured by the NC not to investigate high-profile corruption scandals involving politicians and businesspersons.

The NC was allegedly putting pressure on Prime Minister Dahal to remove Home Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha, claiming that Shrestha was targeting NC leaders by opening investigations into past corruption cases. 
The NC is currently discussing their future course of action. So far it is not clear whether the party will remain in opposition and prepare for the 2027 general elections, or start making efforts to dismantle the Maoist-UML coalition all over again. 

Youth leaders of the party are of the view that the party should remain in the opposition and focus on party building, but the decision rests upon Deuba, who holds a major sway in the party. Koirala said the NC should learn a lesson from this episode, but it is really Deuba who should.  

In a dramatic turn of events, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has ditched his key coalition partner, Nepali Congress, to form a new alliance with the main opposition, CPN-UML. According to Maoist leaders, though the breakdown in the alliance seems sudden, there was a series of misunderstandings with the NC that led to the decision.

One of the primary reasons, they say, is the recently held Mahasamiti meeting of the NC where the party’s general secretary, Gagan Kumar Thapa, and scores of other leaders passed a proposal stating that the NC will not forge any pre-poll alliance. It was a clear reference to the potential partnership with the Maoist party, whose political ideology is diametrically opposite with that of the NC. Similarly, a political document presented by NC Vice-president Purna Bahadur Khadka at the Mahasamiti meeting had portrayed the Maoist insurgency in a negative light which miffed PM Dahal. 

One senior Maoist leader said considering the constant friction encountered with the Nepali Congress, Prime Minister Dahal reached the conclusion that the alliance cannot sustain for long and started working to revive the alliance with the UML. Besides the UML, Rastriya Swatantra Party and Janata Samajbadi Party have also agreed to enter the new alliance.     

The senior Maoist leader said that Prime Minister Dahal was in favor of continuing the Maoist-NC coalition as long as the NC was willing to forge an electoral alliance in the next general elections. While NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba seemed somewhat lenient regarding the Maoist’s condition, the NC second-rung leaders were averse to joining forces with the Maoist party ahead of the next elections.

Inside the Maoists too, many leaders were raising their voice for reviving the left alliance. 

NC leader and Foreign Minister Narayan Prakash Saud said while there were some disagreements with the Maoists, including the decision taken by the Mahasamiti meeting and the issue of Cabinet reshuffle, the NC had not anticipated that Prime Minister Dahal would go on to dissolve the coalition.

Another bone of contention between the Maoist party and NC was picking the National Assembly (NA) chairperson candidate. When the elections for 19 NA seats were held in January, the two parties had agreed to field NC’s Krishna Prasad Sitaula as one of their common candidates from Koshi province. The plan was to make Sitaula an NA member and then field him again as the NA chairperson candidate to replace the incumbent Ganesh Prasad Timilsina of the UML, whose term ends this month.    

Sitaula was elected to the NA with the Maoists backing, but the candidates from the Maoist party did not win the election. Dahal’s party later concluded that the NC did not vote for the Maoist candidates. Shortly after the NA election results, Maoist leaders including Barsha Man Pun publicly announced that the party would review its alliance with the NC. The Mahasamiti meeting of the NC further reinforced the Maoist suspicion that the alliance was unfruitful.

In the government, meanwhile, there was a continuous tussle between Prime Minister Dahal and the ministers from the Congress party, particularly Finance Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat. For a long time, Dahal had been complaining that Mahat was bypassing him while taking key decisions. The prime minister was unhappy with Mahat as he failed to make any progress to recover the faltering economy of the country. Prime Minister Dahal wanted to replace Mahat, but Deuba was against it. Dahal was also not pleased with the way the NC was pressing him not to investigate the corruption cases where senior Congress leaders and businessmen were reportedly involved. 

While taking the decision to change the current coalition, Prime Minister Dahal has his own personal reasons. As the government was becoming unpopular for its failure to improve service delivery, tame corruption and bring the failing economy back on track, Dahal wanted to divert people’s attention by shifting the blame on an incompatible alliance. Also, with a new coalition in place, he buys himself some time and the reason to renew his vows of delivering good governance and progress.  

Since the first day in power, Prime Minister Dahal’s top priority was settling the transitional justice process. To this end, he has been continually seeking international support including the United Nations. Most importantly, he needed the support of the main opposition, UML, which was not forthcoming. It was obvious that the UML would support Dahal’s plan to conclude the transitional justice process only if he was willing to sever ties with the Congress.  With the UML’s support, Dahal wants to conclude the transitional justice process according to his own terms, although it is still not an easy task.

As the main opposition, the UML too was continuously working to break the Maoist-NC alliance. Although the UML leaders publicly said that the party was set on the mission of emerging as the majority party through the next general elections, the party had also set its sight on breaking the ruling alliance and coming back to power. Due to the NC-Maoist alliance, the UML was powerless both at the center and provinces.  Initially, the UML had even tried to forge an alliance with the NC and keep the Maoists and CPN (Unified Socialist) out of the equation, but the NC was not ready to entertain the idea. 

It is uncertain how long the latest coalition will last. But Dahal’s tenure is likely to be prolonged. According to leaders, Dahal and Oli will lead the government for an equal period. The two leaders have agreed to take this coalition until the next elections. But given Dahal’s track record, his propensity and history of flip-flopping between the UML and NC, one could argue that there could be more topsy-turvy political events before we reach the election season in 2027.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal formed a new Cabinet by inducting ministers from CPN-UML, CPN (Maoist Center) and Rastriya Swatantra Party.

Newly appointed ministers took the oath of office and secrecy on Monday.

President Ram Chandra Paudel administered the oath of office and secrecy to Padam Giri of UML, Hit Bahadur Tamang of Maoist Center and DP Aryal of the Rastriya Swatantra Party who were appointed as the ministers without portfolio.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that the initiative for a communist unity has been started.

In a meeting with the families of Sukhani Martyrs held on the last day of Martyrs' Week at the Prime Minister's residence this morning, he said, "we have high respect for the martyrs and starting today we have taken initiatives for a communist unity."

It may be noted that the then panchayat rulers had murdered Ramnath Dahal, Netra Ghimire, Biren Rajbanshi, Krishna Kuinkel and Narayan Shrestha in the Sukhani forest in Jhapa district on Falgun 21, 2029 BS.

Members of the Sukhani Martyrs' family Biseshwara Dahal, Jeevan Ghimire, Ravin Dahal, Buddha Ghimire and others participated in the meeting.

The CPN (Maoist Center) has been celebrating Martyrs' Week from Falgun 14 to 21 in the lunar calendar to link the communist movement and the people's war.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said good governance can be made meaningful only by delivering services through the 'paperless and faceless' system in the coming age.

Addressing the scientists' conference entitled 'AI for Prosperous Nepal, Employment for the Future', today he stressed on the need of giving priority to the use of technology for providing public services.

"The government will take the necessary initiatives that it needs to take from its side for the development of computer technology, robotic technology, data science, machine learning, internet of things and computational infrastructures," the PM said, adding that the government would move ahead coordinating the policy related to AI with the National Science and Technology and Innovation Policy, 2076 BS and the Digital Nepal Framework, 2019.

Stating that the government has pursued various studies and research works in the emerging technology sector, he said that the budget has been allocated for setting up the Science Technology Innovation Fund, attaching importance to the science and technology sector.

On the occasion, PM Dahal directed the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology for creating the opportunities of self-reliance in the technology sector. According to him, special importance would be given to science technology research and innovation in the policy and programmes, and the budget for the upcoming financial year. "This sector has been included with due importance in the proposed 16th Periodic Plan as well, " he added.

The Prime Minister expressed the belief that the government bodies will emphasise on developing projects increasing the role of AI from the next year alone for enhancing innovation and productivity, the PM's Private Secretariat stated.

He also made it clear that 'ChatBot' services and projects related to metadata analysis based on AI would be implemented with priority for the information of services provided by the government agencies.

Prime Minister Dahal expressed the confidence that the conference with the theme of 'AI for prosperous Nepal – employment for the future', jointly organized by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and various stakeholders, will support in materializing the dream of building a prosperous Nepal.

It is time saving and multiple useful for innovation and productivity growth while carrying out the regular works done by people or the works taking long time and those works people cannot do through the use of AI, the Prime Minister asserted.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that preparations are going on to receive the report of the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) on Nepal-India relations.

In a meeting of the National Concern and Coordination Committee under the National Assembly held today, the PM said internal preparations are initiated to receive the report from both countries at a time.

The lawmakers had expressed their concerns on the EPG report against the backdrop of India's reluctance to receive the report.

Responding to the lawmakers' concerns, the PM said a situation could surface to decide on the part of Nepal if there was no condition to receive the EPG report at a time from both sides.

The EPG was formed by the governments of the two countries to review past agreements signed between the two countries.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has assured that the government was seriously working towards addressing the problems of usury, microfinance and cooperatives victims.

In today's meeting of the National Assembly's National Concern and Coordination Committee, PM Dahal asserted that the government was serious towards the issues of the usury victims and was effortful to form a high-powered commission and frame acts and legislations to iron out the problems.

The court was yet to issue a verdict on some cases related to usury, according to the PM. Towards this, he urged the court also to facilitate those cases considering the sensitivity of the issues and cases.

The Head of the Government said, "The problems have emanated on the legal part not on the part of the government. To resolve it, the court process should be completed. As the laws could be in favor of the perpetrators for the transactions based on the old papers and legal evidence (Tamsuk), the government and the court will work in tandem to resolve it according to the nature of the transaction."

The victims of these sectors are staging phase-wise protests in recent months.

On the occasion, the PM said talks were held with the concerned agencies and stakeholders today as well.

Responding to the lawmakers' concerns, the PM said the government was working in a planned fashion to expedite the development of Kathmandu-Tarai Madhes Expressway, advance construction of Sunkoshi Marin Diversion, take initiatives to resolve the issues of British Gurkhas, rescue the Nepali youths recruited illegally in Russian military service and table the Civil Servant Bill.

Concerned agencies are directed to formulate upcoming 16th periodic plan, government's policy and programmes, and prepare budget by giving priority to the Committee's directives, according to the PM.

During the meeting, Committee Chairperson Dil Kumari Rawal (Parbati) reminded the PM about the Committee's directives on intergovernmental relations, national heritage, human rights, foreign affairs, national pride projects, national security, constitutional commissions and others.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said the contribution of veteran singer and composer Bhakta Raj Acharya to the field of music will inspire and guide the country's music industry for long.

Dahal, who visited the Nepal Academy of Music and Drama today to pay his tributes to the late singer, emphasized the significant contribution of Acharya to the music industry.

He extended heartfelt condolences to the grieving family.

The mortal remains of the renowned singer have been placed at the Academy since 11 am today for individuals to pay their last tributes.

His last rites will be performed at the Pashupati Aryaghat today itself, it is said.

Kushma Mahara, the Academy's member-secretary, said that people from various walks of life, particularly those from the music field, have assembled at the Academy to pay tributes to the renowned singer, who passed away on Monday at the age of 82.

Acharya's two sons: Satyaraj and Swaroop Raj are also in the music industry.

Born in Dhankuta in 1999 BS, the late Acharya has made significant contributions to over 400 songs.