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The full-text of the Policies and Programmes is as follows:
Statement by the Rt. Hon'ble Prime Minister on policies and programmes of the Government of Nepal for the Fiscal year 2063/64(2006/2007) presented before the House of Representatives.

Rt. Honourable Speaker,
1.Let me pay homage to all the martyrs who sacrificed their precious lives for the establishment of democracy and sustainable peace, I pray for speedy recovery of the injured.

2.It is known to all that the House of Representatives, reinstated after the historic People's Movement (Janandolan), has made an important declaration to translate people's expectations and commitments to total democracy into reality. The declaration has reaffirmed that the people are an invincible power and that the Nepalese people are sovereign. Necessary legal arrangements will be made to implement the declaration of the House of Representatives.

3.The Government is committed to establishing sustainable peace in the country by ending the decade-long violent conflict. Accordingly, necessary steps will be taken to institutionalize the universally accepted democratic values and norms along with the competitive multiparty system of governance, human rights, political freedom and the concept of rule of law while safeguarding the achievements of the historic People's Movement. National consensus will be built on the issues of national importance while strengthening unity among the political parties for the establishment of democracy and sustainable peace.

4.An all-party Peace Campaign will be initiated to maintain mutual harmony, goodwill and an environment of trust in the Nepalese society by removing the difficult situation, lack of trust and wounds of attacks and counterattacks created by the conflict. A security mechanism that is efficient, accountable and sensitive towards people's security will be developed to guarantee peace and security to the ordinary citizens. The Nepal Army, the Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force will be managed in accordance with the changed context. Programmes for relief, welfare and rehabilitation will be launched for the families affected by and displaced due to the conflict. Likewise, arrangements of scholarships as well as social security will be made for the families of the respected martyrs of the People's Movement. Special attention will be paid to the reconstruction of the damaged infrastructure.

5.Sustainable peace will be established in the country in accordance with the aspirations of the people of Nepal by holding elections to a Constituent Assembly in a free and fair manner and in an atmosphere that is free of intimidation while implementing commitments to establishing peace, including the management of arms, in accordance with the various understandings and agreements reached between the Government and the Maoists as well as the Seven Political Parties and the Nepal Communist Party (Maoist).

6.There exists a huge gap between the people's expectations articulated through the People's Movement and the weak economy, limited resources and means. In this context, it is imperative for us to efficiently manage and utilize the limited resources at our disposal. The poor, disadvantaged, marginalized and suppressed communities will be placed at the centre while allocating public expenditure and formulating economic reform programmes. A foundation of new Nepal will be laid by uplifting and empowering the geographical regions, women, madhesis, indigenous people and nationalities that have not been adequately represented in the national life.

7.In accordance with concept of an inclusive state system and taking into account the past experiences, the principle of partnership and collaboration between and among the Government, the people, the private and non-governmental sectors will be promoted in carrying out development activities. A Foundation of nation building will be erected through the successful mobilization of people's infinite vigour and energy.

8.Priority will be given to the projects that increase rural employment and income level as well as projects meant for infrastructure building. Development activities and services while can be run by the rural communication services, drinking water and sanitation, health and education services will be selected and implemented with their direct and active participation. With a view to ensuring effectiveness in the implementation, arrangements will be made to directly transfer resources and means to the local level by way of further devolution from the centre. Apart from the annual grant being provided to the village development committees, and additional grant will be provided, based on the demand of the local people, to those village development committee that meet the specified standards for the implementation of the rural-level small projects like electrification, road, irrigation and drinking water by the local communities.

9 Emphasis will be laid also on the mobilization of foreign aid in the sectors means for the development of rural infrastructure, poverty reduction as well as sectors of national importance. Projects run by foreign aid have been affected owing to reasons such as delays in procurement related decisions and implementation of construction related projects as well as increment of cost of the project. To improve it, initiatives will be taken for procedural reforms including the promulgation of the public procurement law.

10.Special emphasis will be laid on the development of road transportation, as the large part of the country's territory remains deprived of the minimum service of transportation. Road construction to link the headquarters of seven out of fifteen districts, which still remain deprived of the road transportation facilities. Will be completed within the next fiscal year, and in the case of the remaining districts, programmes will be formulated to connect by road links within the next four years. In addition, while the construction of the Trishuli-Syphrubesi-Rasuwagadhi road, which links north-south borders, will be started this year, special programmes will be initiated for the improvement of the standard of the postal highway and other subsidiary highways in the Terai.

11The Financial sector of Nepal is weak. While the misuse of credit is rampant in the urban areas, the access to credit in the rural areas is gradually shrinking. The government of Nepal will take necessary steps to remove distortions and anomalies existing in the financial sector. A stern policy will be adopted against the willful defaulters. Legal and institutional reforms will be carried out to increase the volume and efficiency of the rural credit market.

12.A step will be taken towards establishing an Industrial Revival Fund with participation of the private sector to rehabilitate indust4ies of the entire industrial zones, including tourism, small and cottage industries affected due to the state of crisis experienced in the economic sector over the last five years. In the changed democratic situation as well as in the context of the restoration of peace, special promotional activities will be carried out to increase the flow of tourists into Nepal, and air services will be made reliable and trustworthy.

13.Necessary reforms will be made in polices and laws to increase investment and competitive capability in industry and trade sectors. Affiliation with the regional and multilateral trading groupings like SAFTA, BIMSTEC and WTO has not only crated additional opportunities but also new challenges in the field of investment and trade in Nepal, Efforts will be made for the optimal utilization of the advantages from the multilateral trading system by working in collaboration with the group of the least-developed countries for the benefit of countries like ours in the ongoing process of negotiations under the WTO.

Rt. Hon'ble Speaker
14.A policy with special programmes will be implemented to make the Terai regions a granary, the hills a zone of horticulture and the high hills for livestock. Beside, shallow tube and surface irrigation programmes will be launched with special priority.

15.Special targeted programmes for empowerment and poverty reduction will be launched for those communities which have not been included in the mainstream of national economic development as well as the districts which are in the situation of grinding poverty due to backwardness in terms of human development. Special programme will be launched for economic development and minimum employment generation in Karnali Zone. And, each household, which does not have electricity facility, will be provided with a solar lamp.

16.Continuity will be given to the programmes related to the protection of bio-diversity as well as community and leasehold forestry. In addition, timely reforms will be made in the existing forestry related laws and regulations and implemented accordingly in order to encourage privately-owned forestry with the aim of maintaining a balance on demands for forest-based products.

17.With a view to ending dual control over land, task of separating share of land between the tenants and the owners will be carried out as a special progarmme in a time-bound manner. Access to land of landless people will be increase through legal and institutional arrangements. The families of landless free-Kamayas (freed bonded-labourers) will be provided long-term loan at concessionary rate for the purchase of land.

18.Education for All Programme will be given continuity to ensure every one's access to and enhance the quality of primary education. Under this programme, provisions for scholarship will be made for all girl-students in grade level 1-10 in Karnali Zone and for 50 percent of girl-students of the primary schools in the remaining 70 districts. Provisions for scholarship, as an incentive, will be made for the students coming from the dalit families and the communities below the marginal poverty line. Special arrangements will be made for the improvement of quality of school education, special education and higher education.

19.Skill development will be given emphasis and necessary reforms in law will be carried out to make the foreign employment, dignified, manageable and transparent. Special attention will be paid to human resource development to generate self-employment opportunities within the country and to enhance the quality of foreign employment. Provisions for scholarship, as an incentive, will be made for the children of disadvantaged communities and martyrs to secure their participation in technical education and vocational training.

20.Given the present state of lack of participation of women in the mainstream of national development owing the gender inequalities, priority will be given to women's capacity development and empowerment programmes. The implementation aspect will be made effective by reforming discriminatory laws against women and by enacting laws that guarantee equality to women. Women development programme will be continuously expanded.

21.Remaining committed to the belief that health is a basic human right of the people; the Government of Nepal will be launch health-related programmes taking into consideration the interest particularly of the poor, helpless and marginalized classes in villages. Adequate assistance will be provided to the treatment of those who have become seriously disabled as a result of injury sustained during the People's Movement.

22.To meet the growing demand of Nepal for electricity and to remove the state of load shedding, implementation of some medium-scale hydroelectricity projects will be taken forward immediately. The community rural electrification will be expanded to provide support to the rural economy. Besides, while intensifying rural electrification programmes in the rural areas for enhancing access to electricity and energy, emphasis will be laid as well on the development and expansion of solar energy, biogas, small-scale hydropower and alternative energy technology.

23.To make irrigation facilities dependable, the Government will give emphasis to the continuity of the construction of large and medium-scale irrigation projects together with the utilization of under-ground water irrigation facilities available round the year by effecting necessary improvement and maintenance of under-ground water irrigation programmes and farmers-run irrigation systems.
24.To help planned urban development and to discourage the tendency to build houses haphazardly without infrastructure, necessary legal framework and a national urban policy will be formulated and implemented. Programmes will be adjusted so as to complete the on-going drinking water projects within three years.

25.An environment for full enjoyment of the right of information by the sovereign citizen will be ensured in accordance with democratic values and norms. Necessary institutional and procedural arrangements will be made to provide the people with information to public importance. While access will be made easier for all to the utilization of telecommunication and modern communication technologies, a policy will be implemented to make the Radio Nepal, the Nepal TV, The Gorkhapatra and the Rashtriya Samachar Samiti (RSS) autonomous, self-reliant and competitive for this purpose. Electronic and print media in the private sector will be encouraged to be independent and dignified. Telecommunication services will be expanded including in the remote areas.

Rt. Hon'ble Speaker
26.In accordance with the spirit and sentiments of the recently established democratic system in the country, timely reform will be made to make the civil service competent, efficient and service oriented. Level-wise monitoring of service delivery will be carried out by giving special emphasis to check the red-tapism and irregularities in different layers of administrative and public sector.
27.The Government of Nepal will make a provision for a dearness allowance, based on a specific percentage of the rate of price increase, to provide relief to the Government employees against the growing cost of living. Besides, planned housing project in major urban areas in the country will be launched in participation of the Employees Provident Fund for the Government employees and the contributors to the Fund.

28.The courts will be equipped with additional resources to ensure the access to justice by the ordinary citizens and to make justice prompt, less expensive and easily available. Necessary legal and structural arrangements will be made to address specifically the problem of citizenship in the Terai region as well as to provide citizenship including on the basis of maternal relationship.

29.Polity-related as well as structural arrangements will be made to develop democratic, pluralistic and original national culture befitting the democratic polity. Necessary policies will be formulate don the basis of the declaration of the House of Representatives to make Nepal a secular state.

Rt. Hon'ble Speaker
30.Efforts will be made to bring an early end to the Bhutanese refugees problem lingering for the last one and half decade as well as to repatriate them to their country with dignity.

31.On behalf of the people and the Government of Nepal, let me express heartfelt thanks to all the friendly countries, international organizations and the civil society for the goodwill and support extended to us in the course of the peoples peaceful struggle for the restoration of democracy. Our foreign policy of maintaining friendly good relations with neighbours and all the friendly countries in the world based on the principles of sovereign equality and peaceful co-existence will receive continuity.

32.The Nepalese embassies and missions abroad will be mobilized fro the promotion of the national interest in the areas such as tourism, trade, investment and employment. Additional efforts will be made to mobilize knowledge, skill and capital of the non-resident Nepalese for the country's economic and social development. Necessary steps will be taken in the interest of the Nepalese abroad.

33.Necessary cooperation, in an appropriate form, will be sought from the United Nations for the ongoing peace process and for the tasks relating to arms management.

Rt. Hon'ble Speaker
34.The best interest and prosperity of Nepal and the Nepalese depend on the unity and sincere efforts of the Nepalese brothers and sisters. Given the present situation that the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) is engaged with the Government of Nepal in the peace process to come to the path of peaceful multiparty competition by giving up arms, it becomes a pious duty of all of us to take a step at a quicker pace in the direction towards establishing peace. In this process, I am fully hopeful that support form the entire spectrum of society will be there for framing an interim constitution and for the establishment to of the rights of the people through elections to a Constituent Assembly so as to create an atmosphere for all the Nepalese to be able, for long into the future, to participate in the all-round development of the country by maintaining mutual goodwill and discipline under a democratic system.
Jai Nepal !