Tuesday, January 6, 2026

Election date will not be postponed: Minister Kharel

Chitwan, Jan. 3

Minister for Communication and Information Technology Jagdish Kharel has said that the date of the election will not be postponed.

Talking to journalists in Bharatpur, Chitwan, on Saturday, he urged the public not to follow rumours suggesting that the election date would be changed.

“The country has already entered the election phase. All political parties have begun the electoral process. In such a situation, saying that the date will be postponed is a meaningless reaction,” he said.

While inspecting the newly constructed building of the National News Agency, Minister Kharel requested media organisations to focus on creating a positive election environment. He said, “The parties have already submitted their closed lists of the proportionate representatives (PR) candidates. Election-focused programmes have begun. The Commission has already moved forward with its work.”

Meanwhile, during another discussion held at the building of the Federation of Nepali Journalists, Chitwan branch, Minister Kharel stressed that everyone working in all media outlets in Nepal should be affiliated with the Social Security Fund (SSF). He said that employees and journalists associated with state-run media are being enrolled in the SSF.

Government media such as Gorkhapatra Corporation and Nepal Television have joined this process.

Stating that preparatory work is under way to sustain self-employed and independent media, he said, “In particular, work is being done on how to move forward by linking new media—such as YouTube, online television and similar platforms—with the state.”

According to him, the public welfare advertisements must be organised so that everyone can benefit from them.

Noting that he has received information that some media outlets are on the verge of closure due to weak financial conditions, he said, “The government will work towards resolving the problems of all media outlets. It has been difficult to improve the financial situation because, in many cases, a single journalist is running a single media organisation.”

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 4 January 2026. 

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