KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has said that it was the duty of the government to provide basic services to the people effectively and urged all concerned to work for it.

He said so while giving instructions to all the Ministers and Secretaries of the Government of Nepal regarding the implementation of the common minimum program of the government, development priorities and progress of five months of the current fiscal year and promotion of good governance.

Stating that people’s lives have been affected due to snow fall and cold wave with the onset of winter, Prime Minister Deuba directed the concerned authorities to provide necessary services to the people.

He also urged them to ensure that there is no shortage of fertilizers and seeds in the country, dependent on agriculture.

He stressed on the need to generate more hydropower and export it by attracting investors as the country has immense reserves of water resources.

“The country is facing problems in many ways at present including due to COVID-19. The unseasonal rains and floods have caused a lot of damage,” he said while noting that the opposition party has created another problem by not allowing the parliament to function.

Stating that the problem of implementation in development works is not new in the country, he directed to move ahead for solution through continuous discussions and consultations between the concerned ministries including the Ministry of Finance.

He said that the government had taken a very important decision in response to COVID-19 and added that the policy of distributing COVID-19 vaccine free of cost has been successful.

Instructing the authorities to continue this campaign with priority, the Prime Minister also thanked the countries and multilateral agencies for their support in vaccination campaign.

On the occasion, Prime Minister Deuba, who is also the President of the ruling Nepali Congress, said that the three-tier election should be held in the near future and added that the government would extend all possible support to the Election Commission for it.

Emphasizing that everyone should work for a free, fair and credible election, he expressed confidence that the ruling coalition would continue to coordinate with each other in the upcoming election.

Briefing about the latest statistics and condition of the country’s economy, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma stressed the need of coordination among all ministries and concerned bodies for policy-level reforms, capacity development of institutional structures, putting the dillydallying to an end and removing legal obstacles to development.

Similarly, Minister of State, Umesh Shrestha, shared that the government has forwarded many policy-level and institutional programmes for good-governance and development, while highlighting the achievements gained after the formation of the incumbent government.