Finance Minister Surendra Pandey unveiled this program at an Asia-Pacific Regional Workshop on Gender Equality and Aid Effectiveness, which was held in the capital on Monday. The workshop was attended by senior officials from India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Nepal.
Highlighting Nepal´s efforts to ensure gender equality through budget, Revenue Secretary Krishna Hari Baskota said the government for this fiscal year was spending Rs 49.46 billion (17.30 percent of total budget) to programs that directly target women and an additional Rs 104.16 billion (34.43 percent) that will indirectly help attain women empowerment.
He enumerated scholarship programs for girls´ education, construction of toilets for female in public schools, 25 percent rebate in land registration fee and 10 percent rebate on income tax of women professionals as among the major gender-responsive programs of the government.
“We also have social security allowances to all women above 70 years of age and single women above 60 years of age,” he said, adding that the government has also increased recruitment of female school teachers, village health volunteers, development organizer/co-planner and social mobilizers.
Baskota further stated that the government would gradually extend its women development program to all the VDCs and soon launch support programs for vulnerable and conflict-hit children and women.
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