Ruling, main opposition lawmakers not to receive Dashain allowances

 After the public uproar, the parliamentarians from ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) and the main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) decided not to take Dashain allowances this year. They have also decided to deposit the money in the government’s fund established to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.

Issuing a press note, 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 also said that they will deposit the money in the government’s fund that is set up to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.

Likewise, a meeting of the NCP’s parliamentary party also took a decision to deposit the money in the fund. The Dashain allowances of the NCP lawmakers in federal parliament will be deposited in the government’s Covid-19 Fund, the NCP (NCP) according to a press note from the ruling party.

After the decision drew flak, the lawmakers were forced to return the Dashain allowance, though the decision to provide them the allowance was approved by the cabinet as the Constitution bars the lawmakers to take Dashain allowance. 

The NCP and NC lawmakers’ have been forced to issue the press note after the parliamentarians faced 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, who claimed that they came to know about the allowance after the amount was deposited in their bank account.