A knowledgeable source at the Ministry of Finance (MoF) said that the estimated figure includes air ambulance fare, medical checkup costs and accommodation.
The cost also includes expenses incurred by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sujata Koirala, Dr Shekhar Koirala -- NC lawmaker and Koirala´s nephew, Koirala´s security officer Mahendra Marasini, two Nepali doctors and a Foreign Ministry under-secretary, all of whom accompanied Koirala to Singapore.
Koirala was taken to Singapore for a medical checkup Saturday and is returning on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the government has decided to bear all the expenses incurred in Koirala´s treatment. A cabinet meeting on Wednesday evening took a decision to this effect to “honor” the contributions made by Koirala, said Minister for Information and Communications Shankar Pokharel, who is also the government spokesperson.
According to sources, family members of Koirala and the others have incurred USD 500 a day for accommodation at the Singapore hotel alone.
Likewise, the cabinet approved a MoF proposal to accept USD 95 million in loan and grant from the World Bank for the school sector reform program. The meeting also decided to accept financial support from the Asian Development Bank for the small towns drinking water and sanitation program.
4 AIGs transferred
The cabinet meeting decided to transfer four additional inspector generals of police (AIGs).
Kalyan Kumar Timalsina has been transferred to the Police Academy from Kathmandu Metropolitan Range and Rabindra Pratap Shah has been transferred to the Human Resource Section at Police Headquarter.
Likewise, Naresh Gurung has been transferred to the administrative section at HQ and Madan Khadka to Kathmandu Metropolitan Range.
Similarly, the cabinet also decided to promote Yam Bahadur Rana to director at the National Investigation Department (NID).
Panel to decide criteria for martyrs
The cabinet meeting formed a committee under the chairmanship of UML leader Modnath Prashrit to set criteria for designating martyrs. The decision was taken in light of controversies over who should be declared martyrs.
PM seeks Begum´s clarification
Information Minister Pokharel said Prime Minister Nepal sought clarifications from State Minister Karima Begum over the treatment she meted out to Chief District Officer Durga Prasad Bhandari.
“The PM called her to his office and sought clarifications why she slapped the CDO,” Pokharel told journalists while emerging from the cabinet meeting.
Related story
New criteria set for multi-year project approval: Minimum cost...
