Kathmandu, July 8: Pramila Gachhedar, a lawmaker from Nepali Congress, on Wednesday said Nepal’s border issue with India is a highly sensitive matter linked to the country’s sovereignty and demanded that the Prime Minister respond in Parliament over his controversial remarks.
Speaking during a meeting of the House of Representatives, Gachhedar said opposition parties had been seeking an explanation from the Prime Minister since his disputed statement became public. She accused the government of avoiding parliamentary accountability despite repeated demands from the opposition.
“Parliament is a sovereign institution, not a social media comment box where questions that are inconvenient can simply be deleted,” she said, urging the Prime Minister to address the House. She also called on the Speaker to issue a ruling if the government continued to delay its response.
The Nepali Congress MP alleged that the Prime Minister’s remarks had increased pressure and psychological distress among Nepali residents in the border areas of Susta and Thori, describing the issue as one that directly concerns Nepal’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Gachhedar also criticized the government’s handling of landless squatters residing in holding centres. She said issuing a five-day ultimatum and offering Rs. 25,000 without providing a viable alternative for rehabilitation amounted to an inhumane policy that had left displaced families in severe hardship.
Reviewing the government’s first 100 days in office, she questioned its claim of achieving 87 percent progress, saying the reality on the ground did not support the government’s assessment. However, she acknowledged several positive initiatives, including the quicker publication of SEE and Grade 12 examination results, the creation of 977 new health-sector positions and efforts to digitize public services.
She said technical errors in the publication of examination results had led to student protests, while the suspension of Rs. 18 billion in health insurance payments had pushed hospitals towards halting services. She also expressed concern over shortages of essential medicines, including those used to treat cancer and rabies.
On the economy, Gachhedar said capital expenditure had declined to Rs. 146 billion, the stock market had weakened and inflation remained high. She alleged that additional taxes imposed on health, education and electricity had increased the financial burden on ordinary citizens.
The MP further accused the government of expanding the number of advisers and experts in ministries while cutting expenditure in essential public services. She said farmers continued to struggle to obtain fertilizers, young people were searching for employment, businesses were seeking a more favourable investment climate and citizens demanding justice had been ignored.
She also alleged increasing interference by unauthorized individuals in state affairs and political influence over the civil service and universities, saying such practices undermined good governance and the rule of law.
Concluding her remarks, Gachhedar urged the government to focus on implementation rather than announcements and on delivering results rather than publicity. She called on the government to remain accountable to both the people and Parliament, saying history would judge it by the positive changes it brought to citizens’ lives rather than by the number of reports it produced.
People’s News Monitoring Service.
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