Valley municipalities brace to stem virus transmission

Kathmandu, Aug 24

The Valley Municipal Forum has decided to make preparations for contact tracing and testing of suspected, probable, confirmed and close contact high risk cases of the coronavirus.

A two-day meeting of the forum has decided to expedite activities to contain the contagion of COVID-19.

"We will expand contact tracing and testing base in all the municipalities in the Kathmandu Valley to check the spread of the coronavirus," said Bidhya Sundar Shakya, chairman of the forum and Mayor of the Kathmandu Metropolis. "The current shutdown period will be utilised for robust contact tracing in the hotspots."

The meeting was attended by KMC Mayor Shakya, Vice-chair of the Forum and Mayor of Lalitpur Metropolis Chiri Babu Maharjan, and Secretary of the Forum and Mayor of Madhyapur Thimi Municipality Madan Sundar Shrestha.

Shakya said that community level transmission of the disease in the federal Capital would create a havoc in administration and many other works. Therefore, the forum had planned to move ahead united to expedite contact tracing and virus testing in the valley. The dense settlements in various parts of the cities in the valley create a fertile ground for easy and rapid transmission of the virus.

"We will make a provision to treat everyone testing positive for the virus. People who are not in the circle of contact tracing but have exhibited the symptoms of COVID-19 would be tested and treated," said Shakya.

Secretary Shrestha said that the forum had planned for contact tracing of 15,000 to 20,000 people on a daily basis.

He said that the people were urged to stay in their home. “If we don’t do something important to check the spread of the virus, there may not be another occasion in the future for contact tracing and testing.”  

"If we see the practice in other countries, the tracing and testing should be expedited during the shutdown or lockdown period. We will follow the same scientific method," he said.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 25 August 2020. 

Municipal Forum prepares to expand the contact tracing and testing

Kathmandu, Aug 23

The Valley Municipal Forum has decided to expand the contact tracing and testing base in all the municipalities in the Kathmandu Valley.

Expressing its serious concerns to the probability of COVID-19 contagion to the community level in the valley, a meeting of the forum on Sunday had decided to this effect.

The meeting was attended by the Chairperson of the Forum and Mayor of Kathmandu Municipality Bidya Sundar Shakya, Vice-chair of the Forum and Mayor of Lalitpur Metropolis Chiri Babu Maharjan, and Secretary of the Forum and Mayor of Madhyapur Thimi Municipality Madan Sundar Shrestha.

"The number of coronavirus infected people has gone up significantly every day. If this situation persisted for some more days, the virus would make its way to the community," said Shakya.

He said that the community level transmission of the disease in the federal Capital would create havoc in administration and many other works. Therefore, the forum had plan to move unitedly ahead to expedite the contact tracing and virus testing in the valley. The dense settlement in various parts of the cities in the valley would create ground for the easy and rapid transmission of the virus.

A restriction order was issued in the valley four days ago with the increasing graph of the coronavirus patients. The local governments here have decided to utilise the restriction period to expand the contact tracing and testing base.

"We will make a provision to treat everyone tested positive to the virus. People who are not in the circle of contact tracing but have exhibited the symptoms of COVID-19 would be tested and treated," said Shakya.

The meeting will continue to make further decision regarding the matter.

Making continuous announcement through the loudspeaker in order to create awareness is also in the priority where the municipalities will appeal people with symptoms to contact the local governments.

Secretary Shrestha said that they would move ahead with a set time-table for the contact tracing and testing.

"We plan to contact tracing for 15,000 to 20,000 people. The meeting tomorrow will decide about details of the plan such as where to begin and when to conduct the testing," he said.

He said that the people were urged to stay in their home so if we don’t do something important to check the spread of the virus, there might not be better opportunity in the future.

The forum had interacted with the experts-including Dr. Khem Karki, public health advisor to the Health Minister Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal, Mahendra Prasad Shrestha, chief expert of the Health Ministry and director of Epidemiology and Disease Control Division at the Department of Health Services, Dr. Bashu Dev Pandey.

 Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 24 August 2020. 

Business down by 74 pc, 61% industries closed

 Impact of COVID-19 on national economy

Kathmandu, Aug 5

The coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdown had caused a complete closure of about  61 per cent enterprises, leading to 73.8 per cent drop in the production and trade of goods and services in the country.

Only 4 per cent enterprises ran in full operation and 35 per cent operated partially, concluded a recent nationwide survey on the ‘Impact of COVID-19 on the economy’ conducted by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB).

The central bank published the results on Wednesday. The results are almost identical to the earlier estimates that about two-thirds of the businesses in the country were badly affected by the pandemic.

The pandemic, and the lockdown, announced on March 24 and lifted on July 21, hit hard the businesses in education, hotel and restaurant, transportation and real estate sectors. Only 4 per cent enterprises in education sectors were in operation while 96 per cent were completely closed and many of them are not opened yet.

Likewise, 91 per cent hotels and restaurants, 89 per cent real estate business, and 76.5 per cent transportation enterprises were shut due to the pandemic. Only 1.8 per cent hotels and restaurants ran in full capacity with health safety measures in place.

According to the study, cottage enterprise, micro enterprises and small retail traders and small enterprises were highly affected. The number of such businesses that remained closed during the period was higher than the national average.

The businesses that run in full operation were from agriculture, communication and health sectors. About one-third agriculture-related businesses ran in full operation during the lockdown followed by 27 per cent in communication and 23 per cent in health sectors.

However, higher number of enterprises in agriculture, mines and excavation, health and social, manufacturing, and electricity, gas and water sectors ran in partial capacity – from 53 to 69 per cent.

During the lockdown, 97 per cent enterprises of various scale reported the loss of about 74 per cent business. Likewise, 0.88 per cent reported that their business was shrunk by 15.5 per cent while 2.5 per cent said their business remained as it was.

However, the small enterprises witnessed the largest loss of business during the period with the reduction of business by 76.6 per cent followed by micro enterprise/trade and cottage industries.

Job loss

The businesses and industries lay off 22.5 per cent workers and staff during the lockdown. Most of the workers and staff hired on contract-basis were the first to lose the job. In terms of the sector, hotel and restaurant sector curtailed the highest number of employees while in terms of size, the micro, cottage and small enterprises/traders curtailed largest number of jobs.

Cottage enterprises lay off 30.5 per cent workers while the large scale industries curtailed only 14 per cent workers. However, the large industries lay off the permanently hired workers in a large numbers.

The survey found that that the businesses participated in the survey cut about 18.2 per cent salary of their staff and workers with hotel and restaurant, transportation and education topping the list.

It is reported that it would take about nine months on average for the enterprise to get back to the normal position. However, hotel and restaurant sector need 13 months.

The central bank had conducted the online survey from June8 – 24.  Altogether 674 enterprises participated in the survey. About 42.7 per cent participants were from micro enterprise/trading, 23.3 per cent small enterprises, 21.7 per cent cottage enterprises, 8 per cent medium-scale enterprises and 4.3 per cent large industries.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 6 August 2020. 

House panel tells ministry to listen to transport entrepreneurs’ woes

Kathmandu, Jun 25

The Development and Technology Committee of the Federal Parliament directed the government to provide concession in tax, reschedule the loans and extend refinancing services to the transport entrepreneurs to mitigate the COVID-19 inflicted impacts on the business.

“The COVID-19 has created a risk of losing the investment made in the public transportation sector, therefore, they should be supported with the loan rescheduling and refinancing, tax discount and concessional loan to repair the vehicles at the earliest,” the committee directed the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport (MoPIT) and Department of Transport Management (DoTM).

It asked the government and MoPIT to create a concrete plan for the operation of public transportation in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and provide the plan to the committee.

After the discussion with the Director General of the DoTM Gogan Bahadur Hamal and officials on Thursday, the House panel directed the ministry and department to establish vehicle washing centres at the entry of the Kathmandu Valley and other major cities in order to save them from dust carried by the vehicles. It also asked them to establish such facilities by the end of the next fiscal year 2020/21.

Likewise, the committee directed the ministry to regulate the unchecked entry and exit of the Indian vehicles. It also asked to create an integrated information system to regulate and manage smart license, embossed number and GPS tracking of the vehicles.

To create policy stability in the transportation sector, the committee directed the ministry and department to create a national policy in cooperation and collaboration among the federal, state and local governments.

It also asked to create separate standards to obtain the license for the private and public vehicles in order to make the present license system more effective and well managed, and not allow the individual holding the license for the private vehicle to drive a public one.

The house panel also directed the MoPIT to conduct the Organisation and Management survey of the DoTM and provide enough human resources as the department and offices under it were facing difficulties in extending its services due to the shortage of staff.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 26 June 2020. 

‘Remittance decline will be made up with international support’

Kathmandu, May 3

Finance Minister Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada said on Sunday that the decline in remittance would not create severe pressure in the foreign exchange reserve of the country.

“The reduction in remittance will impact the demand of imported goods and consumption habits of people, reducing the both,” he said in an exclusive  interview with The Rising Nepal and Gorkhapatra.

Due to the stringent measures against the import of the luxury goods, the foreign trade scenario had started to improve since last year and the export-import ratio was gradually moving down.

The declining trade deficit means less pressure on the balance of payment so although it demands an attention, it’s not a problem, said FM Dr. Khatiwada.

Meanwhile, the gap created by the lowering remittance will be filled up by the international financial support. The country has signed agreement of more than Rs. 150 billion international support that would be mobilised in the next fiscal year.

“We are weak in terms of absorption of the foreign support. Our spending capacity must be enhanced and decision making mechanism should be sound and prompt,” said the finance minister who also holds the portfolio of Minister for Communication and Information Technology.

However, he expressed hope for the quick economic revival in the immediate aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.

“The crisis has hit the employment, investment, planning, and investors’ confidence, disrupted the entire supply chain of major industrial products and affected every citizen in the country. But we have confidence that we will recover soon,” said Dr. Khatiwada.

Yet he maintained that the lockdown and closure of industries and restriction on economic activities will continue to impact the growth in the next year as well.

“Some large projects were in the stage of completion while some were moving ahead with good momentum but the persisting health crisis has affected most of them. It means we will lose the capital that would have been formulated if the projects were completed,” he said.

Similarly, it would take time for businesses and industries to resume operation in the erstwhile manner after the crisis as it would take time to manage the raw materials, capital and human resources.

Business revival will take some time, he said.

According to him, the country has lost Rs. 200 billion to Rs. 300 billion due to the disruptions created by the coronavirus pandemic.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 4 May 2020. 

ICAN donates Rs. 10 mn in Coronavius Fund

Kathmandu, Apr 14

Institute of Chartered Accountants Nepal (ICAN) has deposited Rs. 10 million in the federal government's fund created for the prevention, control and treatment of COVID-19.

ICAN's President Krishna Prasad Acharya handed over the money to the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers on Tuesday. The organisation's council meeting had made a decision to deposit Rs. 10 million to the fund on Sunday.

The meeting has decided to cut-down the expenses for foreign visit and other administrative costs in the current and next fiscal year.

It said that a technical committee would be formed to study the impact of coronavirus on the accounting business. "It seems that we have to pay attention to business consultation in the aftermath of the pandemic therefore we have decided to conduct the study on the impact of the COVID-19 on accounting business," said Acharya.

The committee will study the impact on accounting profession and implementation of accounting standards.

The institute is also prepared to create virtual classes for its students for the online teaching-learning exercise. Such facility will be created with the aim to cater the future need of the institution as well, said Acharya.

Similarly, it decided to establish a relief fund to support the students from the poor households who are affected by the pandemics.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 15 April 2020. 

Himalaya Airlines contributes 10 M to the fund

Kathmandu, Apr 12

Himalaya Airlines has donated Rs. 10 million to the Coronavirus Control and Treatment Fund set up by the federal government.

President and Vice-President of the company Zhou Enyong and Vijay Shrestha handed over a cheque bearing the amount to Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai on Sunday.

“Himalaya Airlines and its family stand firmly by the Government and the people of Nepal during this critical time.” said Zhou Enyong. “This is the time for all of us to unite in the national health emergency and contribute our part towards successfully ending this battle”, he further added.

Sun Nepal Life Insurance Company has donated Rs. 3 million to the government fund created for the prevention and treatment of coronavirus.

The company and its staff have supported Rs. 1.9 million and 1.1 million respectively to the fund.

Company's Managing Director Kamal Raj Gautam and Chief Executive Officer Raj Kumar Aryal handed over the money to the chief of the fund Rajendra Poudel at the Prime Minister's Office on Sunday.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 13 April 2020. 

Female entrepreneurs wait for special relief package

Kathmandu, Apr 8

Female entrepreneurs and workers affected by the lockdown implemented in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak have sought special support from the government and other stakeholders, beyond the initial business relief package announced by the government last week.

They said that most of the relief measures were more useful for the medium and large-scale industries while the small and cottage industries, where the women had the largest share of ownership as well as employment, were not likely to benefit from it.

"It’s good that there is relief package for the business and industries. However, the government-announced relief package is suitable for the large enterprises while the focus of the relief should have been the micro, cottage and small enterprises (MCSEs)," said Anjana Tamrakar, Vice-President of the Federation of Nepalese Cottage and Small Industries (FNCSI).

The lockdown implemented 19 days ago to prevent the spread of coronavirus has severely hit the businesses in the country, but female entrepreneurs and workers have additionally suffered.

However, women were not the prime consideration when it comes to announcing support or devising favourable policies, said Tamrakar.

Since most of the women are involved in MCSEs and are loosely united, they are weak in terms of lobbying for their demands and raising voices in the time of need.

"We have not discussed about the special concerns of women during the lockdown which has resulted in the shutting down the businesses and sending the workers off to their homes," said Ramva Shrestha, Vice-Chair of Women Entrepreneurship Development Committee at the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), the largest business body in terms of membership and expansion.

Some of the women entrepreneurs even went on to say that it was not the time to seek any support from the government; instead, they should support the initiative to prevent the looming crisis.

Meanwhile, phone calls from the workers with the hope of small support troubles them. "My workers are calling me for the relief materials like food and medicines. There are many workers who can't manage their both ends meet if they don’t have work," said Shrestha.

FNCSI alone has about 35,000 general members including 11,000 women entrepreneurs.

Risk to micro-creditors

She said that the government announced discount in the interest of bank loans for the businesses, but this facility can be of little help for the micro-entrepreneurs.

"Most of the microfinance members, most of them women, will be unable to repay the loan for a couple of months even after the restoration of normalcy since most of their savings and productions would be used up in consumption," said Prakash Raj Sharma, Chief Executive Office of Laxmi Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha, a class 'D' bank.

Micro-credit institutions charge higher rates of interest, sometimes twice the commercial banks' rate, so if the lockdown continued, many of the micro-businesses would be closed and the owners would face challenges to repay the loan.

Shrestha said that her committee was planning to hold a video conference with the key agencies and entrepreneurs to discuss the need of women entrepreneurs affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

"We have not asked the government to bring a separate package for the women entrepreneurs, but to support the workers associated with us," she maintained.

Tamrakar said that the government should understand that the size of women-run firms is small and they were unable to address the need of their workers during the time of crisis.

"Discount in bank interest rate and provision of soft loan can be the initial instrument, but we are in discussion about additional support," she said.

Half the economy is informal

There is no actual data about the number of women in business in Nepal. However, the number is quite high if the members of microcredit are included. According to Sharma, there are 4.6 million members of microfinance institutions in the country.

The first-ever Economic Census 2018 found that there were 923,356 firms across the country of which 247,880 were owned by women. But 49.9 per cent of all businesses are not registered with any government agencies including the sub-national governments which leaves a large number of workers working in these firms with no job security, said Anil Sharma, Director of the Central Bureau of Statistics, the statistical body under the National Planning Commission.

About 3.22 million people are employed by those business establishments.

This large chunk of informal business has posed another challenge to the government or support agencies to dole out the relief materials and programmes for them.

Similarly, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimated in 2016 that about 90 per cent jobs were in the informal sector.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) in its recent publication 'The impact and policy responses for COVID-19 in Asia and the Pacific' recommended the government to target economic recovery efforts to women as they are in vulnerable employment and may fall back into poverty.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 9 April 2020. 

Development partners pledge support to Nepal’s fight against COVID-19

Kathmandu, Apr 10

Multilateral development partners have pledged their support to Nepal in mobilising external resources for the prevention and treatment of the COVID-19 and rehabilitation of lives and businesses affected by the pandemic.

They have expressed their interest in working with the government in tackling the challenges posed by the crisis in a video conference held Friday afternoon.

Vice-President of the World Bank for the South Asia Region Hartwig Schafer, Director of the International Monetary Fund Changyong Rhee, VP of International Finance Corporation Nena Stoiljkovic, VP and Chief Investment Officer of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank DJ Pandian and United Nations Resident Coordinator in Nepal Valerie Julliand discussed the issue with the Minister for Finance, and Communication and Information Technology Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada and high government officials.

The meeting has agreed to form a facilitation committee to mobilise the external resources in the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation. The development partners have agreed to stay in the committee and pledged their support for the resource mobilisation, said the Ministry of Finance.

The multilateral donors appreciated Nepal’s role against the coronavirus pandemic and said that they would roll out further support if needed.

They also emphasised unified efforts from all the stakeholders to overcome the crisis.

According to the MoF, the meeting has deliberated on the impact of the COVID-19 on Nepal’s economy, health sector and public life, and its further potential impacts, government efforts to prevent and control the transmission of infection and future strategies.

FM Dr. Khatiwada said that unlike the previous crises, COVID-19 had posed challenges to both at the humanitarian and economic fronts. He termed it as the largest humanitarian and economic crisis in the 21^st century.

“Therefore, there will be greater challenges and severe impacts on life and economy so we need to adopt innovative social and economic measures to overcome this crisis,” he said.

Stating that the government was trying its best to coordinate with all concerned stakeholders in and out of the country and mobilise all possible resources to battle against the coronavirus pandemic, Dr. Khattiwada pointed out to the need for international, regional as well as bilateral cooperation in the drive to control the spread of the virus.

According to him, since traditional cooperation policy, programmes and instruments will not be enough, new policy and programmes were needed for the countries like Nepal.

Additional resources should be mobilised and cost, conditions and process of the development assistance should be simplified and reviewed, he added.

Dr. Khatiwada also suggested extending the loan repayment duration.

Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank Maha Prasad Adhikari, secretaries duo of the Ministry of Finance Shishir Kumar Dhungana and Ram Sharan  Pudasaini, WB Nepal Country Director Faris Hadad-Zervos and ADB Nepal Country Director Mukhtor Khamudkhanov also participated in the discussion.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 11 April 2020. 

NLIC provides Rs. 5.1m to COVID-19 Fund

Kathmandu, Apr 10

Nepal Life Insurance Company has deposited Rs. 5.1 million to the fund established to prevent, control and treatment of coronavirus.

It has provided the money to the fund that it had pledged earlier.

Chairman of the company’s Board of Directors Prema Singh handed over the cheque bearing the amount to Minister for Finance, and Communication and Information Technology Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada on Friday.

Member of the BoD and President of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Bhawani Rana, and Chief Executive Officer Bharat Basnet were also present on the occasion.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 11 April 2020. 

FNCCI seeks concession in power tariff

Kathmandu, Apr 10

The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) has requested the government not to apply demand charge on electricity during the lockdown period.

The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) should provide electricity at concessional rates for the six months after the industries resume operation, the business body demanded in its recommendations for the economic rehabilitation submitted to Minister for Finance Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada on Friday.

It requested the government to automatically include the COVID-19 infection in health insurance policy. As the new disease is not included in health insurance policy, insured are not entitled for any treatment or facility from the insurance companies if they are infected with coronavirus.

Likewise, the FNCCI asked the government to introduce a provision for providing refinancing facility to the companies and businesses of tourism, export, manufacturing and agriculture sectors at the rate of 2 per cent interest in order to manage salary and wages for the staff and workers for one year. It said that such loan should be paid in installments over the period of two years.

“Other small, medium and large scale enterprises should have the facility of refinancing for the six months’ salary of staff and workers at the rate of 2 per cent and which should be paid in installments in one year,” reads the statement.

Similarly, the FNCCI asked to apply the provision of 10 per cent discount in interest for the monthly and tri-monthly installments of the term loan to working capital loan and TR loan as well.

A delegation led by FNCCI president Bhawani Rana had submitted the recommendation letter to the Finance Minister. It has drawn the attention of the FM on the plight of the industries and businesses in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

“The companies will face an immense challenge for the management of cash flow after the end of the lockdown and opening of the business,” it said.

It has also recommended providing facility for the enterprises to reduce the capacity or shut down the business by providing minimum money to the staff and workers if anyone desires to do so and asked to curtail the collective bargaining in the company or firms for one year.

Meanwhile, FNCCI president Rana has called for patience and safety on the part of business people and workers during the COVID-19 crisis.

Publishing a statement on the occasion of Chamber and Industry Day 2076 on Friday, she appreciated the government efforts to control the pandemic.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 11 April 2020. 

KL Dugar distributes relief to 400 families

Kathmandu, Apr 4

KL Dugar Group has distributed relief materials to 400 families in Kohalpur Municipality in Banke district.

The business group has supported the families with 15 kg food package – 10 kg rice, 2 kg wheat flour, 2 kg pulses, 1 kg grams and 1 litre cooking oil.

The family pack was distributed to the deprived families and disabled people in the ward no. 7, 14 and 15 of the municipality.

Food items were distributed in coordination with the respective ward office and in the presence of ward chairman.

We want to support the families of daily wage earners, poor and disabled during the crisis, said Pradeep Chhajed of the group. "The relief was distributed to the families identified by the ward offices. We will continue to support the needy people in the time of crisis and disaster in the future as well," he said.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 5 April 2020. 

Govt scraps Agrawal's post

Kathmandu, Apr 9

The government had decided to scrap Sulav Agrawal's post of honorary consul of Kyrgyzstan. He was found involved in black marketing of critical health equipment needed for the treatment of coronavirus.

Police had arrested him on Tuesday for the alleged involvement in the black marketing of thermal gun – used in measuring fever – and other health items.

An undercover team of Nepal Police had stuck a deal to buy infrared thermometers with Agrawal who is the vice-chairman of Shankar Group. He asked Rs. 15,000 for a thermal gun which comes at Rs. 3,500 in the market.

Earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Wednesday, had decided to withdraw the facilities and privileges provided to the honorary consuls based in Nepal.

It had suspended the privilege of using blue plate and the flag in official vehicle of the Honorary Consuls with immediate effect until further notice.

Indicating Agrawal, the ministry had said, "In the context of the incident in which an honorary consul was found to have engaged in illegal activity misusing his position and privilege granted for his official function, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has decided to withdraw certain facilities and privileges provided to the Honorary Consuls based in Nepal."

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 10 March 2020. 

Zonta Club distributes food to wage workers

Kathmandu, Apr 9

Zonta Club of Kathmandu has distributed 1,000 food packages to daily wage earners to help them to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.

It distributed 1,000 food packages – comprised of rice, lentils, pulses, cooking oil, beaten rice, salt, sugar and tea - to the workers' families in Bijeshwori, Budhanilkantha, Dhalko, Jagritinagar, Jorpati, Lele, Mahankal, Nagarjun, Sankhamool, Sinamangal, Thali, Thapathali, Tokha Municipalities and Teku.

The club partnered with organisations like Bikalpa, Nepal Mahila Samaj, Food for Life, ICDO, Sky Foundation and some individual.

Although it targeted to reach 300 families, it reached over 2,400 families by Wednesday, the club said.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 10 April 2020. 

Civil servants asked to be more vigilant for controlling COVID-19

Kathmandu, Apr 8

The government has issued a directive for the civil servants to apply the required activism to make the lockdown more effective and support in containing the spread of COVID-19.

The Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration had sought the help from the government staffers as per a Cabinet-level decision made on Wednesday, in making the lockdown effective in the area of their deployment and residence.

It has directed the civil servants to be vigilant and help in controlling the public activities during the restriction period.

"If you find any individual who has come from the COVID-19 affected country or area moving unnecessary in your locality, request him/her to stay in quarantine and report it to the respective ward office if the person does not listen to you," read the directive.

The ministry has also asked the staff to inform the District Administrative Office and District Police Office about such individuals.

Civil servants has the duty of informing the CDO, local body, police or district level office of the Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection in case of unnatural price hike of foods and daily commodities.

The civil servants should be in regular contact with their immediate seniors and perform their job from their home as far as applicable.

They also have duty to support the government agencies and local bodies in data collection and relief distribution.

"You should request people not to come out of their houses unnecessarily and promote the use of mask while going out, and maintaining social distance. If anyone defies these cautionary measures, inform the nearest police office or the local body," directed the MoFAGA.

The civil servants should also monitor whether the groceries and other shops of daily utilities are maintaining the social distancing and request in case of no compliance.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 9 April 2020. 

COVID-19 fund receives Rs 700 million in four days

Kathmandu, Apr 8

In the first four days of this week the fund created for the prevention, control and treatment of COVID-19 by the federal governmetn has incrased by Rs 700 million.

According to the Prime Minister's Office, the fund worth Rs 1.18 billion on last Friday has reached Rs 1.88 billion by Wednesday evening.

About Rs 27.1 million was deposited in the account of the fund maintained at Rastriya Banijya Bank on Wednesday with Nepal Life Insurance Company providing Rs 2.43 million and the Ministry of Finance Rs 1.19 million.

Rastriya Samachar Samiti supported Rs 583,492, Department of Hydrology and Meterology Rs 433,402, Narayani Hospital, Birgunj Rs 431,465 and Ministry of Defense Rs 267,393.

Likewise, Secretariat of Justice Council, Departmetn of Commerce, Supply and Consumer Protection, Women Commession, Nechasalya Rural Municipality and Koshi Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisation and Lawmaker Mahesh Basnet also deposited money in the fund on Wednesday. Rs 20.8 million was deposited by other organisatios and individuals.

The size of fund was Rs 1.85 billion on Tuesday. Life Insurance Corporation, National Examiniation Board, Budinanda Municipality, Rajpur Municipality and other organisations had deposited the money.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 9 April 2020. 

WB offers US$29 M fast-track support to fight COVID-19

Kathmandu, Apr. 7

The World Bank has approved a fast-track US$ 29 million support to Nepal for COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Project.

The support is provided to help the country prevent, detect, and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and strengthen its public health preparedness. The agreement was signed by the Ministry of Finance and the World Bank on Tuesday.

According to the WB, the project will focus on the immediate response and preparedness needs to fight the virus.

"The project provides emergency support to enhance Nepal’s capacity to detect cases and ensure prompt contact tracing consistent with World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines and Ministry of Health and Population protocols," said WB Country Director for Nepal Faris Hadad-Zervos in a video conference with the journalists on Tuesday.

It will also help set up new intensive care units, beds, and isolation facilities across the country. The MoHP will implement the project.

The project will also equip designated health facilities with personal protective equipment (PPE) and hygienic materials and increase the diagnostic capacity of laboratories for responding to public health emergencies.

It will enhance the National Public Health Laboratory to handle harmful infectious diseases and strengthen public institutions to coordinate and better manage response activities in all three levels of government.

"We wanted to react quickly to enable Nepal combat with the crisis with the necessary equipment and technical assistance when required," said Zervos.

Finance Secretary Shishir Kumar Dhungana said that the support would help Nepal respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and strengthen our capacities to deal with future public health risks. “The arrangements made by the government, immediately after the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country, to prevent and address the possible crisis have affected the socio-economic activities," he said.

Dhungana anticipated further support from the multilateral donor to cope with the emerging pandemic situation.

The project is financed from the International Development Association (IDA), the WB's concessional credit window for developing countries, through the World Bank Group’s COVID-19 Fast-Track Facility.

It will be effective immediately after the signing. It has also an option of WB-facilitated procurement as and when required as per the request of the implementing agency.

The World Bank Group is rolling out a $14 billion fast-track package to strengthen the COVID-19 response in developing countries and shorten the time to recovery. The immediate response includes financing, policy advice and technical assistance to help countries cope with the health and economic impacts of the pandemic.

As countries need broader support, the World Bank Group will deploy up to $160 billion over 15 months to protect the poor and vulnerable, support businesses, and bolster economic recovery, said Zervos.

Collective efforts

Meanwhile, multilateral financial partners have held a meeting to discuss the ways to support Nepal during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Zervos, WB, Asian Development Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and International Monetary Fund are in the club.

The second meet between the development partners will be held on Friday and it will be attended by Finance Minister Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada and Governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank Maha Prasad Adhikari.

The meeting will deliberate on possible stimulus and recovery package needed for the economy.

“The World Bank and its development partners are committed to helping Nepal beef up its health infrastructure and access the resources it needs to fight the spread of COVID-19 and protect the livelihoods of its people,” said Zervos.

However, he maintained that it is early to make any conclusion about the damage the pandemic has caused in the economy.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 8 April 2020.  

Coronavirus fear, lockdown delay reconstruction

Kathmandu, Apr 5

The coronavirus pandemic has a severe repercussion on the post-earthquake reconstruction across the country.

All the works and other activities except for the documentation at some local bodies have come to a complete halt as the workers and technicians have left the site before the implementation of the lockdown amidst the looming threat of COVID-19 infection.

The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) said that the reconstruction of the private houses, public infrastructure and government building had been left as they were by mid-March 2020.

According to Chief Executive Officer of the NRA Sushil Gyawali, all the work has stopped for the last couple of weeks as the labourers and masons moved to their home seeking safety from the virus, the shortage of construction materials has prevented some families from continuing with house building on their own even during the crisis.

However, information and documentation work at the district coordination centres are going on. "Some of the engineers and NRA staff are involved in documentation and digitalisaiton of the records of the beneficiaries and the progress made," said Gyawali.

The reconstruction body is set to begin the assessment of the impact of lockdown on the reconstruction. The obstruction in the construction due to lockdown will certainly create demand for additional time and money.

"We cannot predict the impact of the pandemic on rebuilding now. With the extension of lockdown, there are chances of time and cost overrun. We may not achieve the targets as we had estimated earlier," said Gyawali.

Some of the large heritages such as Dharhara, palaces and temples at the Kathmandu Durbar Square, Bhaktapur and Nuwakot Durbar Squares are under construction. Work at all the sites has been stopped. Reconstruction of Ranipokhari, Dharhara and 9-storey palace at Kathmandu Durbar Square were witnessing good progress.

The iconic Dharhara was supposed to be completed before coming Dashain and Ranipokhari would be ready for coming Bhaitika. The Balgopaleshwor Temple in the middle of the Ranipokhari is visited by the men who do not have sisters on the day of Bhaitika.

In the last four years after the formation of the reconstruction body, about 494,044 houses damaged in the 2015 earthquake have been rebuilt while 645,678 families have been approved for the second tranche of Rs 300,000 housing grant.

About 550,532 households have received the last tranche of the grant. The NRA had signed grant agreement with 781,176 families.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 6 April 2020. 

FNCCI distributes relief to wage earners

Kathmandu, Apr 5

The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Sunday distributed 4,000 packets of relief materials to the daily wage earners.

It has supported the workers who lost their job due to the lockdown implemented to save people from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The daily wage earners have lost their job since the implementation of lockdown about two weeks ago and are facing problem to make ends meet.

The business body has distributed the relief materials collected under the 'Live and let live' campaign 2020.

Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Lekh Raj Bhatta and FNCCI President Bhawani Rana jointly gave away the relief materials to the workers. The packet included 10 kg rice and one kg pulse.

The items were distributed in Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur and Kavreplanchok districts.

District Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Nepal Film Technician Association, Kathmandu Metropolitan City Ward Nos 1, 20 and 31, Madhyapur Thimi Municipality Ward Nos 3 and 6, Nawa Jiban Children Home have extended support to distribute the food items.

The FNCCI has already donated Rs 5 million to the Coronavirus Infection Prevention, Control and Treatment Fund set up by the government and pledged to provide additional support worth Rs 10 million in cash and kind.

Under the same programme, the business body has also provided 10,000 pieces of masks and 250 sets of PPEs to the Ministry of Health and Population through the MoICS.

The FNCCI has also urged its members to operate the industries with the application of all precaution against the COVID-19 pandemic and expressed solidarity with the government announced policies and programmes to combat the crisis.

Meanwhile, Swalamban Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha has deposited Rs 2.5 million in the Coronavirus Prevention, Control and Treatment Fund on Sunday.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 6 April 2020. 

Contribution to anti-COVID-19 fund growing steadily

Kathmandu, Apr 4

The fund created for the prevention, control and treatment of COVID-19 has received a total of Rs 1.18 billion till Friday afternoon.

According to the Prime Minister's Office, the fund received Rs 96.9 million on Friday with Rs 50 million from Rastriya Beema Samiti (Insurance Board), Rs 16.5 million from Rastriya Beema Company and Rs 10 million from Rastriya Beema Sansthan.

Likewise, Rs 5.1 million was provided by MBNL.

Staff of the PMO collected Rs 1.7 million for the fund while National Cooperative Bank and Melamchi Municipality deposited Rs 1.1 million and Rs 1 million respectively.

Ramechhap District Hospital and Rose Bahini Sanitary deposited Rs 101,979 and Rs 100,000.

About Rs 11.3 million was collected from various organisations and individuals who deposited less than Rs. 100,000.

The fund account had Rs 1.09 billion till Thursday.

A couple of days ago, 22 commercial banks had pledged to support Rs 254 million to the central and provincial funds created by the governments for the prevention and treatment of coronavirus.

The fund has received support with a large amount from the government agencies such as Nepal Oil Corporation which deposited Rs 500 million and Securities Board of Nepal Rs 10 million.

One-door in relief distribution

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration has directed to apply one-door system in relief distribution.

Issuing a directive on Friday, the ministry barred the organisations and individuals from distribution of relief materials and other support on their own.

All the relief materials to be distributed form various individuals, organisations and government as well as non-government agencies should be collected at the respective local levels and distributed in an integrated manner.

"The government has started distributing the relief materials to the workers of the unorganised and informal sector, poor and deprived people through the local levels," said the ministry.

It has also directed the local levels to send the report of daily relief distribution to the ministry.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 5 April 2020.