27 Feb 2019, Kathmandu
National Assembly (NA), the Upper House in the Federal Parliament, today endorsed the Bill to Amend Some of Nepal Acts, with majority.
Prior to this, Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Bhanubhakta Dhakal, presented the proposal towards that end along with a message from the House of Representatives.
Taking part in the discussions over the proposal, lawmaker Radheshyam Adhikari charged that the amendment aimed to promote the policy-level corruption by giving 21,000 ropani of land in the districts on lease by the Office of Nepal Trust, enriching a handful of people. The Bill to amend 110 acts at once caused inconvenience for its study in detail, he added.
Prakash Pantha said the many issues relating to the rights of persons with disabilities were missing in the Bill. He expressed his concern over the dissemination of misinformation that lawmakers with disabilities hired more private secretaries.
In response to queries raised during the discussions, the minister said the Bill to amend acts in an integrated way was the need of time. He expressed his hope that the discussions helped to make the Bill more effective.
He pledged no misappropriation of public property while giving it on lease, as he said there would be a Board of Directors for the supervision and management of Trust property and its chair would be appointed by the Prime Minister, and the government would not be expected to remain uninformed of the use of property.
The amendment of the Bill was necessary to make some of Nepal’s acts in consistent with the constitution, he said.
The NA shall meet again at 1:00 pm on March 1.
