By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Dec. 5: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli Friday urged the concerned stakeholders not to create any obstruction to development activities in the name of ethnicity and cultural rights to meet petty political interest of particular group(s).
Presiding over the first quarterly progress review meeting of the Ministry of Defence and Ministerial Development Problem Resolving Committee held at his residence in Baluwatar today, Prime Minister Oli said the people of Khokana should be convinced and those who are trying to do politics and portray the government as anti-culture and religion should be identified to take the Fast Track project ahead by resolving the land compensation dispute.
He said, "Some forces are trying to cash in on the public sentiment by spreading false rumors that the government was trying not only to evacuate the people but also dismantle the temples of Khokana."
"People's representatives and leaders who are supposed to solve the problem are further igniting the problem. We must be aware of any attempt made to provoke communalism and spread the poison of unrest in the society,” he said.
Prime Minister Oli, who is also Minister of Defence, stressed the need for uplifting all castes by resolving such issues together as national unity could be destroyed if ethnic disputes were promoted.
He clarified that the government was working for the reconstruction of the destroyed archeological buildings and heritages and protection of the historical forts so that such structures and heritages would not be affected while planning development activities.
He directed the National Planning Commission, the Ministry of Finance, Physical Infrastructure and Transport and the Ministry of Defence and the Nepali Army to take coordinated initiatives to resolve the land dispute issue of Khokana.
Prime Minister Oli urged the people to continue the development work at a fast pace and not at a snail's pace. He said, “Some people think that there is corruption in everything. They do not believe that there is no corruption because they have a corrupt mindset.”
Prime Minister Oli directed the concerned parties to complete the programmes from bunker to barrack within the next fiscal year and focus on the conservation of the Chure area.
He also urged the representatives of the concerned ministries to allocate budget for the construction of the new building of the Chandi Dal battalion at Singha Durbar.
He lauded the role played by the Nepali Army in the humanitarian work and during natural calamities since the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic and expressed satisfaction over the progress made by the ministry in the first four months of the current fiscal.
35 per cent progress of the Ministry
On the occasion, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Dr. Pushparaj Kandel informed that inter-ministerial coordination was underway to resolve the dispute over Khokana land. Chief of the Army Staff (CoAS) PurnachandraThapa urged officials of the ministry to provide adequate budget for programmes and projects.
Presenting the progress review of the ministry, Secretary Reshmiraj Pandey informed that 34.57 per cent progress was made in the first four months.
He said that out of 21 targets in the current fiscal year, 16 have received green signal at the ministry level.
He also informed that the action plan of the National Security Policy has been approved and is being implemented and the National Defence Policy has been approved by the National Security Council and is being submitted to the Council of Ministers for approval.