KATHMANDU

Finance Minister Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat today said no one is exempt from not paying loans. At an event organized here on the occasion of Shankhadhar Day by Madhyapurthimi Municipality, the minister said everyone is bound to pay the loan when they take it and invest rampantly. ‘The biggest amount of loan is taken and not paid? No one is exempt from not paying loans. However, the state will look after the genuine debtors who are suffering due to loans,’ he said.

Stating that economic development could be achieved through the development of information and technology, hydropower, and tourism in Nepal, he urged youths to tap into the opportunities the country has for them. Saying that no one could take away the republic achieved through the sacrifices of the people, he said the wishes of anyone (if any) about changing the system by spreading negative sentiments would not be fulfilled.

Efforts are underway to spread propaganda against this system through social media, he said. Discussing the contributions of Shankhadhar Sakhwa, the minister said the government’s decision to use Nepal Sambat as the official calendar would be implemented. Saying that Nepal Sambat has been established as a national Sambat, he said Madhyapurthimi Municipality has started the work to establish its identity through the launch of the historical naming campaign.

Saying that the identity of Nepal would not be complete without the Newari civilization, Finance Minister Mahat stressed the need for showing its identity to the world and protecting and advancing the developed culture as an identity.

On the occasion, other speakers, including Nepali Congress central member Madan Krishna Shrestha, CPN (Maoist Centre) central member Dilip Prajapati, chief of the district coordination committee, Bhaktapur, Ishwor Bahadur Thapa, Nepali Congress Madhyapur municipal president Haridas Prajapati, chairperson of Image Channel RK Manandhar, President of the Rastriya Bibhuti Shankhadhar Sakhwa Pratisthan Gyan Ram Shrestha, and the municipality deputy mayor Bijaya Krishna Shrestha, stressed the need for launching a campaign to spread the message that Nepal Sambat is the common date of all Nepali people.

Likewise, saying that the municipality has been observing Shankhadhar Day every year to commemorate the contributions of Sakhwa, the municipality mayor, Surendra Shrestha, urged one and all to come together to implement the government’s decision to use the Nepal Sambat as the official date of the country.