Member of Parliament Mahavir Pun has called on the government to immediately utilize approximately NPR 1.6 billion remaining idle in the Rural Telecommunications Fund to expand communication services in rural areas. “There isn’t a lack of budget to bring internet and telephone services to every village; the issue is the inability to effectively spend the allocated funds,” he stated. In Kathmandu, he also urged the government to lift the ban on new taxi registrations, highlighting the emergence of syndicates due to the restriction imposed for the past two decades. Kathmandu, 12 Jestha.
During a special address at Tuesday’s House of Representatives session, MP Pun drew the attention of the government towards the large sum of money left unspent in the Rural Telecommunications Fund, which remains unused despite the pressing need to enhance communication services in rural regions. He highlighted that although billions of rupees are available, delays in expenditure have resulted in rural communities being deprived of essential communication facilities. “There is no shortage of budget to extend internet and telephone connectivity to every village; the problem lies in the failure to utilize available funds. Instead of merely raising this issue in the House, the Ministry of Communications and the Nepal Telecommunications Authority must be pressured to deploy the fund,” he emphasized.
According to MP Pun, the Rural Telecommunications Fund under the Nepal Telecommunications Authority currently holds nearly NPR 1.6 billion. This fund has been accumulated since 1996 through a two percent levy collected from telecommunications service users. MP Pun also informed that the new taxi registration process has been halted in the Kathmandu Valley, leading to the rise of syndicates, and he urged the government to eliminate this restriction. He noted that there were around 7,500 registered taxis in 2000, and following the 2015 earthquake, an additional 1,500 taxis were added, resulting in a total fleet of approximately 9,000 taxis. Despite a significant increase in Kathmandu’s population over the past two decades, the number of taxis has not grown, which, according to him, has encouraged collusion and syndicates.
