Kathmandu.
Health and Population Minister Mohan Bahadur Basnet has instructed the subordinate agencies to work keeping in mind the lives of 30 million people. In a program held at the Ministry on Sunday, Minister Basnet emphasized to the employees of all the 5 divisions under him that since the work of the Ministry of Health is sensitive compared to other ministries, policy plans should be made keeping in mind the lives of the people.
As the Ministry of Health is currently working on the next year’s budget, Minister Basnet instructed the employees to allocate the budget in such a way as to guarantee that the poor people get health services. Basnet said that only if the employees carry out their responsibilities successfully, the people will get easy treatment services and based on that, the minister will also be successful. Stating that he is ready to give the employees the necessary time to solve the problems of the ministry, Minister Basnet informed that in order not to delay the work of the ministry, he is going to keep the meeting time with visitors only after 4 pm every day. He said, so that other meetings do not interfere with the work, I am keeping the time of meeting visitors after 4 pm.
He emphasized that health treatment should be given to poor people even if the scope of tax on tobacco products is increased. He said, ‘Let’s increase the tax on tobacco products and let’s donate the money collected from it to hospitals that treat the poor, including Veer Hospital.’ Minister Basnet said that if it is necessary to change the system of spending money raised from tobacco tax only on diseases such as cancer, he will consult with the Prime Minister and change the rules.
Minister Basnet has requested to give his advice in writing for the improvement work that can be done in the ministry. Stating that there is a wrong trend of buying unnecessary equipment for the commission and storing it without using it, Minister Basnet instructed the employees to stop that practice immediately. Stating that the budget of the Ministry of Health is going to be cut by about 40 percent for the coming financial year, Basnet stressed that he will lead the way to increase the budget and all the employees should support it.