Govt forms panels to identify poor population

KATHMANDU, Feb 27: The government has formed two committees to identify number of people living below the poverty line so as to initiate the process of issuing identity cards to such people.



The decision was taken by a meeting of the board of directors of the Poverty Alleviation Fund (PAF), which is headed by Prime Minister Babu Ram Bhattarai, on Monday, according to a PAF statement. [break]



The nine-member steering committee will be coordinated by vice-chairman of the PAF, while seven-member technical committee will be coordinated by director general of Central Bureau of Statistics. The guidelines for the two committees will be jointly prepared by the PAF and the National Planning Commission (NPC).



The meeting also decided to launch poverty alleviation programs of the PAF in 15 additional districts. The PAF is currently operating programs in 40 districts.



The meeting was participated by Chief Secretary Madhav Ghimire, finance secretary Krishna Hari Banskota and NPC Secretary Yuvraj Bhusal, among others.

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