December 25: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has directed the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation to move ahead with the process of purchasing aircraft for Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) in a transparent manner, leaving no room for any error and dispute.    
He gave this directive in a joint briefing and discussions programme attended by officials of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Water Supply held at the Singha Durbar on Sunday.    
"Questions are always raised in aircraft purchase deals in Nepal. Let there be no such errors this time. The aircraft purchase process should be cent per cent correct, error-free and transparent. There should be no mistakes and questions like in the past in the procurement process this time," he reiterated.    
The PM also spoke on the need of changing several of our tourism-related policies and regulations as they are not tourist-friendly. "Let us all think about creating a conducive environment for the tourists. Let’s attract tourists by opening up the prohibited areas. Night time services should also be opened in the tourist areas and the government should be flexible in this too," he said.    
On the occasion, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Sudan Kirati said the airports constructed on the basis of 'political pressure' were not operating in an effective way. He stressed on the need for constructing airports only on need-basis in the coming days.    
He said solution should be sought for the areas prohibited for tourists and suggested making diplomatic initiation for operating the Bhairahawa and Pokhara international airports in their full capacity.    
PM Dahal instructed the bodies concerned to immediately resolve the problem of the consumers having to pay water tariff even for taps which are dry. He directed for writing off the water tariff of consumers who are not getting water supply.    
He also called for further expediting works on the Melamchi Water Supply Project while expressing happiness over the works currently being carried out in two shifts as per the 28-day integrated action plan for bringing 170 million litres of water daily from Melamchi to Sundarijal of Kathmandu within a month.    
The PM also urged the bodies concerned to look for other sources of water to supply water in the Kathmandu Valley which has a daily demand of 250 million litres water.    
Water Supply Minister Mahendra Raya Yadav, Minister Kirati, Minister of State for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Sushila Shreepali, Chief Secretary Dr Baikuntha Aryal, Water Supply Secretary Suresh Acharya, Culture Secretary Deepak Kafle , Finance Secretary Krishna Hari Pushkar, among other officials shed light on topics related to works and responsibilities of their respective ministries.  -- RSS