KATHMANDU: Lawmakers have started announcing to relinquish Dashain allowance following criticisms from all quarters.

Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Spokesperson Narayan Kaji Shrestha has already announced that he would not receive the Dashain allowance.  Another NCP leader Bhim Rawal has followed suit, of late.

Posting a twitter message on Sunday, Rawal said he would not receive the allowance in view of the coronavirus pandemic that has seriously hit the nation.

“People’s representatives should relinquish the allowance in view of the economic crisis our country has been facing due to coronavirus pandemic. I fully concur with the lawmakers’ views that they should not receive Dashain allowance this time. Let the deposited allowance be deducted from my account,” Rawal tweeted.

खातामा भत्ताको रकम राखिएको थाहा पाइयो ।हालको विषम स्वास्थ्य चुनौती र आर्थिक कठिनाइलाई मनन गरी कुनैपनि जनप्रतिनिधिले दसैं भत्ता नलिने व्यवस्था गरियोस् ।सांसदहरूले उक्त भत्ता लिनुहुन्न भन्नेमा मेरो समर्थन छ ।मेरो खाताबाट रकम कट्टी गर्न मञ्जुरी छ ।

— Bhim Rawal, PhD (@BhimRawal179) October 18, 2020

Social networking sites have been awash with criticisms after the Parliament Secretariat started distributing Dashain allowance to lawmakers amid the coronavirus pandemic that has hit the country hard economically.