Lawmakers ask for adequate supply of seeds and fertilisers

Kathmandu / June 23: Most of the lawmakers speaking during the ‘Zero Hour’ of the meeting of the House of Representatives today drew the attention of the government to immediately ensure the adequate supply of seeds and fertiliser to the farmers in the present rice cultivation time.

They criticised the government for neglecting the agriculture sector despite the country primarily being an agricultural economy and called upon the government to promptly resolve the shortage of seeds and fertilisers. The lawmakers reminded the government that it should not be forgotten that agriculture contributed one-third of the GDP to the economy.

The lawmakers calling attention of the government in this regard were Laxmi Kumari Chaudhary, Bharat Kumar Shah, Rajendra Kumar Rai, among others.

Lawmaker Brijesh Kumar Gupta expressed worry over the deteriorating quality of education in the community schools and demanded effective measures for improving the situation.

Rani Mnadal said the quarantines have become the places of spreading coronavirus and called for managing the quarantines as per the WHO standard.

Bhimsen Das Pradhan demanded declaring public holiday on two days – Saturday and Sunday – as it would be difficult to maintain social distance in public transport while Bhairab Bahadur Singh called for carrying out PCR test on all the people in quarantine given the increasing number of India-returnees.

Lawmaker Minendra Rijal alleged the government of not checking the unnecessary expenses while Min Bahadur Bishwakarma propoed the government to make provision of waiving off of house rent by house owners, the bank interest by the banks, fees by schools and providing Rs 7,000 monthly to the daily wagers taking the period from the start of the lockdown to its termination as the ‘zero period’.

Maheshwor Raj Gahatraj expressed concern over the increase in the incidents of violance against women and racial discrimination, urging the government to take effective steps forcurbing social crime.

Lawmaker Ram Kumari Chaudhary said that 373 rape cases, 34 cases of polygamy and eight cases related to mistreatment in the name of witchcraft have taken place during the lockdown period. Rangamati Shahi demanded stern action against the culprits of these crimes.

Ram Kumari Jhankri ured the government to bring relief package for the small entrepreneurs who have been hardest hit by the COVID-19 crisis.

Among lawmakers expressing their views on a range of issues are Meena Subba, Mana Kumari GC, Laxmi Pariyar, Mohan Baniya, Ram Bahadur Bishta and Yagya Raj Sunuwar. RSS