Kathmandu, May 17: The government has said that every citizen will be assured of basic health services through integrated and coordinated mobilization of health service system, physical infrastructures, workforce and resources at all three tiers of government. Health services provided by the federal, province and local level will be classified.
According to ‘policies and programmes’ unveiled by the government, federal hospitals will be restructured on the basis of workload. Outpatient services will be operated in two shifts in hospitals with sufficient human resource including Bir Hospital, National Trauma Centre, Kanti Children’s Hospital. Kanti Children’s Hospital will be well equipped with construction of additional infrastructures and upgradation. Shahid Gangalal National Heart Centre will be developed as an institution capable in producing specialists in Cardiology.
Likewise, the construction work of the basic hospitals under construction will be completed soon. The construction of the hospitals, which are at the completion stage of the procurement process, will be started. Federal hospitals or health science academies at the provincial level will be upgraded to 500 beds respectively. Human organ transplant institutions and services will be upgraded and expanded.
Special programmes will be conducted for safe motherhood and disease control. Free screening programme for prevention of cervical cancer and vaccination services for girls in the age group of ten to fourteen years will be extended to district hospitals.
Fetal and newborn infant diagnostics services will be started at Paropakar Maternity and Women’s Hospital to identify congenital disabilities or conditions of abnormal nature.
Arrangements will be made for convenient health services to senior citizens by provisioning geriatric wards in all hospitals. Telemedicine services will be operated in at least one federal hospital and at least two other hospitals of each province.
Records and service flow related to health and treatment in federal and provincial hospitals will be made based on digital system. Arrangements will be made for the health institutions to access each other’s medical records electronically so that similar tests do not have to be repeated and the medical records are kept updated.
One Health Policy
Public health surveillance system will be strengthened for pandemic prevention, control, and preparedness and response to health emergencies. Health personnel will be deployed at border and entry points. A separate institutional arrangement will be made for the prevention of non-communicable disease. An action plan based on the “One Health Policy” will be implemented to minimize probable adverse effects on human health from animals, plants, and the environment.
All organized sectors across the country, including government and non-government organizations, will be affiliated mandatorily to health insurance. Appropriate institutional arrangements will be made for the regulation of proper use of safe medicine and food consumption. System of testing and regulation on the quality of medicines, medical supplies, health equipment, cosmetics, and nutritional supplements will be made more effective. The capacity of the National Medicines Laboratory, including the system for drug quality inspection, will be enhanced.
Alternative and natural, and traditional medical practices will be researched, developed, and expanded. Self-reliance in the production of basic Ayurvedic medicines will be achieved. Civic wellness programs will be expanded to the community levels.
In the fields of public administration, education, health, tourism and social development, the native and scientific methods of yoga, meditation and self-awakening will be mainstreamed to create a healthy and moral society, and the self-awakening campaign of yoga and meditation will be conducted at the federal, province and local levels. Yoga and meditation tourism will be promoted to spread the message of yoga and meditation around the world.
Mental health promotion activities such as prevention and control of drug addiction, control of depression, anxiety and mental illness, and prevention of suicide will be conducted at the community level with priority.
A multi-sectoral action plan related to population and migration will be formulated by revising the population policy.
Labour market
The labour market will be adjusted to make the workforce skilled and competitive according to market demand, and productive employment will be promoted.
An integrated national employment framework for employment management and skill development will be implemented. Vocational and skill development training centers which are in operation will be upgraded to international standards.
Programs related to employment and self-employment, such as the Prime Minister’s Employment Program, Youth Self-Employment Fund, Skill Development, and Employment Promotion, will be integrated and implemented effectively. A multi-technical institute will be established in the province in collaboration with the private sector. Institutional arrangement will be made to establish National Authority for Skill Development and Employment with a view to establishing a link between job seekers and job providers with a complete record of unemployment and employment opportunities.
Labor diplomacy will be actively pursued through revision of existing labor agreements and new agreements will be done with additional labour
destination countries.
The law related to foreign employment will be amended to make foreign employment safe and dignified. Policies will be adopted to diversify/transfer labor destinations to make foreign employment safer, dignified, organized and result-oriented. Pre-departure orientation training will be made free gradually and successively. The trend of going for foreign employment without skills will be phased out.
Arrangements will be made for special orientation training to the workers going for the specified foreign employment sectors requiring high skills.
Returnee Entrepreneurship Program
Foreign employment will be coordinated and facilitated through employment centers at local level. Citizens who want to go for foreign employment will be encouraged to open free bank accounts and to remit their earnings back home through these accounts. A “Returnee Entrepreneurship Program” will be implemented to create employment and entrepreneurship based on the skills and professional competencies brought by citizens returning from foreign employment, in collaboration with provincial and local levels as well as the Foreign Employment Board.
Social security for informal sector
The scope of the contribution-based social security system will be expanded. Temporary, contractual, and salaried employees based in the government and organized sectors, as well as workers in the informal sector, will be covered in the social security scheme.
Scattered social security programs will be managed in an integrated manner. Necessary policy and institutional reforms will be made to eliminate duplications and redundancies among programs operated by the Social Security Fund, the Employee Provident Fund, and the Citizens Investment Trust.
A good industrial relation will be developed via effective labour inspection and social dialogue. Mandatory labour audits will be implemented in government and private institutions.
A national strategy will be formulated for the formalization of workers in the informal sector. Appropriate policy and structural arrangements will be
made to address the issues of female workers.
Workplace safety arrangements will be made for workers employed in hazardous labor sectors.
Opportunities for youth
Youth will be advanced as important partners and contributors in all spheres of social life through skill development, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship training.
Arrangements will be made to provide fellowships to 1,000 talented youths in various fields. The private sector will be encouraged to offer fellowships to youths. The National Youth Volunteer Program will be implemented to mobilize youth manpower and enhance their capabilities for nation-building.
Opportunities will be created for sports and yoga practice for everyone. National-level competitions will be organized for the promotion of Nepal’s native and traditional sports as well as to discover talented athletes. Nepal’s participation in international sports competitions will be increased. An international competition of modern-tech e-sports will be organized.
Sports training will be provided to school-level teachers and students. Age-specific sports competitions for children will be organized. Participation of women in sports will be increased. Special programs will be implemented for the honour and career development of athletes. Nepali athletes who win in international sports competition will be rewarded and honoured while keeping their morale high by providing them with subsistence allowance.
Cricket stadiums construction in high priority
The construction of sports infrastructure will be given high priority. The construction of cricket stadiums in Mulpani (Kathmandu), Biratnagar (Morang) and Fapla (Kailali) will be expedited.
The Gautam Buddha Cricket Stadium which is currently under construction in Bharatpur, Chitwan will be moved forward in collaboration with the federal, province and local level governments. Additional construction works, including the upgradation of the Kirtipur Cricket Stadium, will be prioritized.
Home administration more effective
Home administration will be made more effective, robust, capable, and professional to meet the public expectations for peace, security, service delivery, development, and governance.
The promotion system will be made predictable by reviewing the retirement period of police personnel at all levels. The internal security system will be made reliable and trustworthy by providing security agencies with adequate and sufficient physical infrastructures, equipment, facilities, and technology. Based on the analysis of security indicators as per the multidimensional security concept, arrangements will be made to provide a sense of security to the vulnerable groups and people in need of state protection.
Cross-border crime and revenue leakage will be controlled by further strengthening international border security. Programme will be conducted to increase participation, ownership and belonging of local citizens for border security. Immigration service will be further strengthened and streamlined.
Open prisons management
Continuity will be given to the improvement of the physical infrastructure of prisons. Province-level prisons will be managed and operated in coordination with the Province and Local level governments. Open prisons will be operated in coordination with the provincial government. Enterprises will be run in the prison to utilize the skills and abilities of the inmates.
Facility of psycho-social counselling and yoga and meditation will be arranged in the prisons.
Integrated central record of seizure, control and confiscation of criminal assets will be updated and managed properly.
The national identity card system will be integrated to all the public services provided by the state. All the government electronic systems related to citizen services will be linked to ‘Nagarik’ App and arrangements will be made so that most of the services can be received through mobile phone.
Promotional programs against drug use and trafficking will be continued in cooperation with the Federal, Province and Local level governments and nongovernmental organizations, civil society, and the private sector. Drug abuse treatment and rehabilitation centres will be established in collaboration with the Province and Local level governments. Policy and legal arrangements will be made to encourage the medicinal use, controlled production and commercialization of cannabis.
National security
The national security system will be strengthened based on the National Security Policy and Action Plan. The capacity of all security agencies, including Nepal Army will be enhanced to protect Nepal’s sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, national unity and national interest.
From bunker to barracks
Continuation will be given to Nepal Army’s ‘From bunker to barracks’ program and reconstruction works of physical structures damaged by earthquakes. Structures and trails of historical and archaeological importance related to Nepal’s unification will be explored, identified, conserved and promoted.
The work of preparing committed, disciplined and loyal youths dedicated to the national interest will be conducted as a campaign and the program related to the ‘National Cadet Corps’ will be gradually expanded to the Local levels.
Policy will be adopted to achieve self-reliance in the production of security and defence materials, essential ammunition, explosives, clothing and other military materials required for the nation.
National Defence University
National Defence University will soon be brought into operation to promote high-level studies, research and academic deliberations by developing a common understanding and similar opinions on the matters of national security, defence and international relations.
Diplomatic initiatives will be taken to increase significant representation of Nepal at the leadership positions of peacekeeping missions while also making Nepal’s participation more effective in maintaining world peace at the call of the United Nations.
