KATHMANDU, Oct 19: Parliamentarians belonging to the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) and the main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) have decided not to receive Dashain allowances this year and deposit the money in the government’s fund established to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.
A meeting of the NCP’s parliamentary party took a decision to this effect earlier this afternoon, according to Subhas Nembang, the deputy leader of the parliamentary party of NCP.
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Nembang told Republica that the Dashain allowances of the NCP lawmakers in federal parliament will be deposited in the government’s COVID-19 Fund.
The parliamentary party of the ruling NCP has also urged one and all to celebrate the Dashain festival in their homes to stop the coronavirus spread.
Meanwhile, issuing a press statement, Nepali Congress Chief Whip Bal Krishna Khad said that his party’s lawmakers in federal parliament have decided to return Rs 4.32 million which they were supposed to receive as Dashain allowances. Khad stated that they will deposit the same money in the government’s fund which has been set up to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.
The NCP and NC lawmakers’ statements come at a time when parliamentarians are facing sharp criticism on social media for receiving Dashain allowances ‘even as the country is reeling under severe crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic’.
Last week, the Federal Parliament Secretariat had distributed Dashain allowances to the lawmakers.
