With House restoration, House panels back in action

KATHMANDU, July 23: With the reinstatement of the House of Representatives (HoR) for the second time on July 12, the parliamentary committees, which are also termed as the ‘mini parliaments’ have started holding meetings. 

Two house panels --- State Affairs and Good governance Committee and Law, Justice and Human Rights Committee--- held separate meetings on Thursday. The meeting called by the Industry and Commerce Committee, however, was postponed at the eleventh hour. 

The Home Minister, Secretary at the Home Ministry and Executive Officer of National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority were called to take stock of loss caused by monsoon-triggered disasters and government activities to combat them. 

The Human Rights Committee, on the other hand, organized an event to welcome newly appointed Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Gyanendra Karki. In the program, they also discussed the issues to be  raised in the upcoming meetings. 

Plans of parliamentary committees

The lower House of parliament --- HoR--- was first dissolved on December 20, 2020. Though the House was reinstated on February 23, earlier this year, the parliamentary committees could not hold meetings on a regular basis owing to the fear of outbreak of the second wave of the coronavirus. 

The House was dissolved again on May 22, which was restored later on July 12. The first meeting of the HoR was held on July 18, where Prime MInister Sher Bahadur Deuba won the trust motion. The lower House of parliament is holding its second meeting of this session on Friday. 

Kalyani Khadka, who heads the Development and Technology Committee, said that the series of House dissolutions have adversely impacted the performance of the committees. 

“We were supposed to make field trips to oversee the development activities. National pride projects are rarely  completed in time. Quality is another matter to be taken care of.However, House dissolution impacted all these routine works.”

According to Khadka, the committee is holding its meeting anytime soon.

Meanwhile, the Education and Health Committee is also preparing to summon its meeting, according to its chairperson Jayapuri Gharti. 

The committee will be engrossed on awaring the government for  COVID-19 prevention and control. 

The International Relations Committee is also preparing to hold its meeting following the House restoration. “The meeting will be held either from Sunday or Monday,” said committee chairperson Pabitra Niraula Kharel. 

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